Fw: $9.8 million won't resolve implant case

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----- Original Message -----

From: " Kathi " <pureheart@...>

Sent: Tuesday, September 24, 2002 3:08 AM

Subject: $9.8 million won't resolve implant case

> $9.8 million won't resolve

> implant case

>

> September 21, 2002

>

> BY PATRICIA ANSTETT

> FREE PRESS MEDICAL WRITER

>

> A federal ruling late Thursday resolves one of the

> last big legal hurdles in the Dow Corning silicone

> implant case but still leaves about 170,000 women

> and men months away from receiving money to pay

> medical bills.

>

> U.S. District Judge

> Page Hood, who oversees

> the bankruptcy case

> involving Midland-based

> Dow Corning Corp.,

> authorized a $9.8-million

> settlement with the U.S.

> government for medical

> expenses for some Dow

> Corning implant patients.

>

> The settlement involves

> veterans and military

> employees, people with

> Medicare and Medicaid

> insurance, and Native

> Americans with Dow

> Corning silicone devices,

> particularly breast implants.

>

> " This gets the ball rolling . .

> . but we're still at least a year away, " said

> Wiggins, global manager of corporate relations for

> Dow Corning. " This may not mean closure for

> everyone, " he said of Thursday's ruling. " We realize

> that. It's been a painful decade. "

>

> Several issues are expected to hold up medical

> payments to the remaining claimants for at least a

> year.

>

> One of the biggest questions is whether claimants

> should be able to tap the deeper pockets of Dow

> Chemical and Corning Inc., parent companies of

> Dow Corning. Hood ruled no, but the 6th Circuit

> Court of Appeals in Cincinnati has asked her to

> produce more information.

>

> Also pending is whether the U.S. Supreme Court will

> agree to hear an appeal by a Nevada law firm

> representing at least 50 women who oppose the

> proposals to distribute $3.2 billion to the larger pool of

> 170,000 women and men with silicone devices made

> by Dow Corning.

>

> The high court is expected to announce its decision in

> October.

>

> Sybil Niden Goldrich, executive director of the

> Command Trust Network, the nation's largest group

> of breast implant patients, said even though several

> federal agencies, including Medicare and the military,

> acknowledge injuries from silicone devices, the Food

> and Drug Administration continues to allow limited

> use of silicone breast implants and is involved with

> reviews by manufacturers to return them to the

> market without severe restrictions.

>

> Sharon Snider, FDA spokeswoman, said she could

> not comment on the agency's plans to reconsider

> wider use of silicone devices. A spokesman for

> Inamed Clinical Research, a leading silicone implant

> manufacturer, also declined to comment Friday.

>

> The breast implant case dates back to 1992 when the

> FDA pulled all silicone breast implant devices from

> the market. The agency made one exception for

> cancer patients undergoing reconstruction who

> agreed to participate in follow-up studies.

>

> Dow Corning has been in bankruptcy since 1995. No

> payments have been made to the 170,000 patients

> worldwide who filed claims with the company for

> medical expenses. The payments have been held up

> by numerous legal issues.

>

> " Things have been moving extremely slowly, "

> Wiggins said Friday. " The message we're sending

> out, these delays are a normal part of the judicial

> system, not because Dow Corning or claimants are

> trying to stall.

>

> The claimants against Dow Corning include persons

> with hip implants and other devices that use silicone

> products.

>

> Contact PATRICIA ANSTETT at 313-222-5021 or

> anstett@....

>