Breast Implant Settlement Detailed

Copyright 1998 Associated Press November 9, 1998

Women who claim their Dow Corning Corp. silicone breast implants caused diseases could get between $12,000 and $300,000 each, under a proposed $3.2 billion settlement filed today.

The plan submitted to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court must be approved by the judge and by a vote of creditors. The company's first payments into the plan would be about $1 billion.

The company announced a settlement in July. Since then, the company and attorneys for the affected women have been working out details including payouts for the women.

Women with disease claims could receive between $12,000 and $300,000. Women whose implants ruptured would be eligible for up to $25,000. Women could also receive $5,000 for implant removal. Women who filed claims against Dow Corning can also settle for $2,000 with no questions asked.

Under the settlement, women who fall sick later would have nearly 15 years to file disease-related claims. It also includes "gel claims," for women whose implants weren't made by Dow Corning but were filled with its silicone gel.

Women may reject the offer and file lawsuits on their own; the plan provides a pool of up to $400 million for individual claims.

If approved, the plan would let injury claims move forward for the first time since May 1995, when Dow Corning sought reorganizational bankruptcy protection.

More than 19,000 lawsuits were pending when the company sought Chapter 11 protection. Before then, the company offered to pay about $2 billion to settle implant claims.

Dow Corning helped develop silicone breast implants in the 1960s, and was once the largest maker of the devices. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has banned using them for cosmetic purposes.

Concerns about implants surfaced in the mid-1980s. Thousands of women who had implants have since claimed leaks have caused serious diseases of the immune system such as lupus, which can lead to infections, depression, kidney disease and serious joint damage.

The company long has maintained that there's no scientific proof that silicone causes immune-system ailments.

An estimated 1 million to 2 million U.S. women have received implants, either to restore their breasts after cancer surgery or for enlargement.

Several studies have found little solid evidence that implants cause diseases throughout the body.

In 1992, the FDA restricted silicone gel implants to mastectomy patients in medical experiments. Saline-filled implants are still approved for use in cosmetic or reconstructive surgery.

Midland-based Dow Corning is co-owned by Dow Chemical Co. and Corning Inc.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Arthur Spector will hold hearings in late January to decide whether the plan should be submitted to Dow Corning's creditors.

The creditors are divided into several groups. For the plan to be approved, a majority of claimants in each group must approve the plan; those claimants would have to represent two-thirds of the amount of claims in that group.

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