THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, June 17, 1995 TAG: 9506170351
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: BIRMINGHAM, ALA. LENGTH: Short : 49 lines
A $4.25 billion settlement of breast implant claims is so severely underfunded that women could receive as little as 5 percent of what they were promised, a federal court analysis has found.
A partial analysis of claims filed with settlement administrators found more than 70,000 women probably would be eligible to get money in the first wave of payments - far more than anyone expected.
That means women expecting payments of $1.4 million to $105,000 could receive as little as $70,000 to $5,250.
``There are just too many sick women,'' plaintiff's attorney Ralph Knowles said Friday. ``I didn't think it was going to be anything like that. If I did, we would have never agreed to the $4.25 billion . . . because that basically would have been a sham.''
Discussions to add billions more to the settlement are continuing, and Knowles said he was ``cautiously optimistic'' that a new deal could be struck.
But those talks must produce a new deal within a few weeks ``or we're going to call it off,'' Knowles said.
Bristol-Myers Squibb, a major contributor to the settlement, said in a statement Friday that it would continue to negotiate. It also said, however, that ``The company . . . will not simply add more money to cover claims which have no medical basis.''
Manufacturers agreed to pay billions of dollars to women who contend their implants caused health problems, among them lupus, neurological disorders and hardening of the breasts.
Under the settlement, Dow Corning Corp., once the largest maker of silicone implants, agreed to pay the largest share, $2 billion, and Bristol-Myers Squibb, $1.15 billion. Baxter Healthcare, Union Carbide and 3M also committed money to the settlement, which was set to expire after 30 years.
All the companies deny their products hurt anyone. ILLUSTRATION: FOR MORE INFO
The national hot line for information on the breast implant
settlement is 1-800-887-6828.
KEYWORDS: SETTLEMENT BREAST IMPLANTS HOT LINE by CNB