CLAIMANTS' ADVISORY COMMITTEE E-NEWSLETTER

Dow Corning Bankruptcy Settlement

 

Volume 11, No. 6, April 10, 2014

Contact the CAC at: info@tortcomm.org or

phone: (419) 394-0717

fax: (419) 394-1748

 

Sybil Niden Goldrich

Ernest Hornsby, Esq

Dianna Pendleton-Dominguez, Esq.

 

This is the 111^th e-newsletter (Vol. 11, No. 6) from the Claimants' Advisory Committee (CAC) in the Dow Corning bankruptcy Settlement Plan. You were sent a copy of the newsletter because our records show that you requested to be on the mailing list. If you wish to unsubscribe, click here or to reply to this newsletter, send an email to: info@tortcomm.org. Please do not hit "Reply" to this email address.

To contact the CAC, use the email address: info@tortcomm.org or dpend440@aol.com. You can also contact the CAC directly at 419-394-0717.

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UPDATE ON THE STATUS OF MAILING PARTIAL PREMIUM PAYMENTS

We realize that many of you have questions about the partial Premium Payments so we have prepared a list of frequently asked questions and answers.  Several thousand partial Premium Payment award letters were mailed on Monday, April 7^th.  Checks for this group will be sent within two weeks after the award letter is mailed.  Each month, the Settlement Facility will mail several thousand additional award letters and checks, and this process will continue until all approved Rupture and Disease claimants have received their check.  Please be patient.  This process will take six – nine months to complete because it involves tens of thousands of claim checks and a total disbursement of approximately $100 million.

1.      What is the order for the Settlement Facility to mail partial Premium Payments? 

ANSWER:  Partial Premium Payments will be mailed in the order that the Base Payment was approved.  This means that claims approved in 2004 will be paid first, followed by 2005, 2006, etc. until all checks have been mailed.  Please note that the largest majority of approved Rupture and Disease claims occurred from 2004 – 2008 so it will take awhile to process claims for these years.

2.      How much is the partial Premium Payment? 

ANSWER:  The District Court approved a 50% Premium Payment at this time.  If you had an approved Rupture claim, your partial Premium Payment will be $2,500 (Class 5).  If you had an approved Disease claim, your partial Premium Payment will be 10% of your Disease payment.  For example, if you were approved at ACTD Level C for $10,000, then your partial Premium Payment is 10% of $10,000, or $1,000.

3.      How much will I receive?

ANSWER:  The CAC does not have access to your claimant files, so we cannot tell you how much your partial Premium Payment will be.  You can contact the Settlement Facility for this information; however, we urge you to be patient and wait for your award letter.  If the Settlement Facility is overwhelmed responding to calls about how much each individual claimant will receive, then they are not able to work on actually getting the award letters and checks mailed.  We realize everyone wants to know how much they will receive, but you can calculate this yourself based on your approved claim(s). (See Question 2 above)

4.      When will I receive the rest of the Premium Payment?

ANSWER:  We do not have a date when the remainder of the Premium Payment will be made.  It is likely that it will be made closer to the end of the Settlement Plan in 2019.

5.      My Disease and/or Rupture payment was reduced by 50% already because I had a silicone gel breast implant from both Dow Corning and either Bristol, Baxter, and/or 3M.  Will my partial Premium Payment be reduced by 50% as well?  If so, how can I recover the other 50%?

ANSWER:  Yes, it will be reduced by 50% because of the multiple manufacturer reduction.  The other manufacturers in the Revised Settlement Program did not provide a Premium Payment, so you will not be able to recover the other 50% of your Premium Payment from them.

6.      Are there Premium Payments for Class 7 claims?

ANSWER:  No.  The Plan that was approved by the bankruptcy court did not provide for Premium Payments to Class 7 (Silicone Gel Claimants).

7.      When will Class 7 approved Disease claims be paid?

ANSWER:  It is our goal to have these payments issued in 2014. We cannot provide an exact date at this time. We realize this issue is very important to those who are waiting for their payment, and we are working to finalize and prioritize these payments.

8.      What is the value of all the Premium Payments that will be paid now? 

ANSWER:  The motion filed by the Finance Committee projected that paying partial Premium Payments now would cost approximately $100 million.

9.      Can my attorney take a fee from my partial Premium Payment? 

ANSWER:  Yes, if you were represented by that attorney at the time your claim was processed and approved then the attorney is entitled to be paid a fee.  This is because the Premium Payment is part of the overall award that your attorney obtained on your behalf.  The partial Premium Payment is a delayed installment of that award.

10.  How much in attorney fees can be deducted from my partial Premium Payment?

ANSWER:  The Plan sets attorney fee limits as follows:

10% of the first $10,000

22.5% of the next $40,000

30% of any amount over $50,000

 

Please note that the attorney who represented you at the time your Rupture and/or Disease payment was approved can add these payment amounts together if applicable to calculate their fee.  For example, if you received a $20,000 Rupture payment and a $10,000 Disease payment, these 2 payments total $30,000.  The attorney's fee would be 22.5% of your partial Premium Payment.

Attorneys may NOT include the Expedited Payment or the Explant Payment in determining attorney fees on your partial Premium Payment.

11.  What happens to my partial Premium Payment if my attorney no longer represents me now? 

ANSWER:  If you are no longer represented by counsel, the partial Premium Payment check will be sent to you directly.  However, if your attorney filed a lien on the Premium Payment, you will be notified of the process to resolve the lien.  This will delay your partial Premium Payment.  If your attorney did not file a lien, then the payment will be sent directly to you.

12.  How can I update my address to make sure the partial Premium Payment reaches me?

ANSWER:  To update your address, you can call, email, or send a letter to the Settlement Facility providing your full name, claim number, old address, and new address.  Send all address updates to:

Email:  info@sfdct.com

Call:     1-866-874-6099

Regular or Overnight mail:         SF-DCT

                                                P.O. Box 52429

                                                Houston, TX  77052-2429

 

13.  Can a surviving spouse or child / heir of a claimant receive the partial Premium Payment?

 

ANSWER:  If a claimant has passed away, her estate can still receive the partial Premium Payment.  The legal representative of the estate – such as the Executor/ Executrix – must contact the Settlement Facility in writing and provide documentation that he/she is the legal representative.  For more information, contact the Settlement Facility directly to determine how you need to proceed.

 

14.  Do I need to file anything to get the partial Premium Payment?

 

ANSWER: No.  The Settlement Facility has identified claimants who have an approved Rupture and/or Disease claim.  You do need to keep your contact information and address current with the Settlement Facility.

 

15.  Can I file a claim for Increased Severity?

 

ANSWER:   Yes, you can send in documentation showing that you are eligible for an Increased Severity claim as that is defined in the Plan.  If your Disease claim was approved in Option 1 (such as ACTD), you can qualify for Increased Severity if your condition worsens such that you qualify for Disability Level A.  There is a cap of $15 million on total payments available to all claimants in Option 1 for Increased Severity.

 

If your Disease claim was approved in Option 2, you can qualify for Increased Severity if your condition worsens to any other higher paying disease or disability level.  There is no cap on the amount that can be paid to Increased Severity in Disease Option 2.

 

The CAC has posted detailed information about qualifying for Disease payments, including Disability A, on our website – www.tortcomm.org, under "Disease Claims." 

 

URGENT -- EXPLANT CLAIM DEADLINE – JUNE 2, 2014 

*** THE DEADLINE TO FILE AN EXPLANT CLAIM IS JUNE 2, 2014.  ***

TO BE ELIGIBLE, YOU MUST HAVE YOUR DOW CORNING BREAST IMPLANT REMOVED AND YOU MUST SUBMIT THE EXPLANT CLAIM FORM AND OPERATIVE REPORT ON OR BEFORE JUNE 2, 2014.  IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR ELIGIBILITY, PLEASE CONTACT THE SETTLEMENT FACILITY OFFICES.

To file an Explant Claim, you must complete and sign the Explant Claim Form by the deadline and submit a copy of one of the following medical records that show that your Dow Corning breast implant was removed after December 31, 1990 an on or before June 2, 2014:

a.       An itemized hospital bill; or

b.      The bill from the surgeon who removed your breast implants; or

c.       The surgical report; or

d.      An insurance company's statement of benefits; or

e.       Contemporaneous hospital records (including the hospital pathology report); or

f.       The contemporaneous office notes from the surgeon who removed your breast implants; or

g.       A pre-operative medical document, together with confirmation from a medical provider or insurance company that the surgery actually took place as scheduled.

Remember, you cannot receive silicone gel breast implants to replace your removed Dow Corning breast implants or your entire Explant Payment will be denied.  Claimants may receive a replacement SALINE breast implant however.  For more information, please review the Instructions to the Explant Claim Form and the Claimant Information Guide.

DEADLINE REMINDERS

Please mark your calendar with the following claim submission deadlines. Please note that these deadlines mean that your claim forms and materials must be received by the SF-DCT by the posted deadline. Please mail all forms early enough so that they are received by the deadline listed below.

Deadline Date	Type of Deadline
June 2, 2014	Explant Claims submission deadline for timely filed claimants in Classes 5, 6.1 and 6.2 (NOTE: this deadline does NOT apply to NOI claimants or Late Claimants)
June 3, 2019	Disease or Expedited Release Claim submission deadline for all claims in Classes 5, 6.1 and 6.2 (this deadline does NOT apply to Late Claimants)

 

If you would like to read prior CAC e-newsletters, they are available on the CAC website by clicking on "Electronic Newsletter." We urge you to visit the CAC website (www.tortcomm.org) on a regular basis to download or view relevant documents and read updates and new information. To contact the CAC, send an email to: info@tortcomm.org or send a letter to the Post Office Box address for the CAC at:

Claimants' Advisory Committee

P.O. Box 665

St. Marys, Ohio 45885

Phone Number: (419) 394-0717

Fax Number: (419) 394-1748

Email: info@tortcomm.org

 

NOTICE: This document is copyrighted. You are not authorized to post it on any website without express, prior written permission of the Claimants' Advisory Committee.