Deadline Set for Agreement on Breast Implant Settlement

A federal judge has set a 30-day deadline for breast implant makers and the lawyers defending implant recipients to renegotiate a $4.25-billion settlement fund or risk losing the current one on the table, officials said Monday.

U.S. District Judge Sam Pointer of Birmingham, Ala., set an Aug. 30 deadline for the parties to develop at least an outline of a reworked plan to settle thousands of health claims from implant recipients, according to the court’s Houston claims office.

Pointer’s order, made privately to the parties last week, was made public Monday on the claims office’s recorded hot line.

“If by Aug. 30, 1995, the parties have not delivered to the court a signed statement of principle for renegotiated agreement, the court will make its decision concerning the contents and timing of a second opt-out notice, or indeed if the settlement should go forward at all,” the court’s recorded message said.

When Pointer approved the settlement last year, he did so with the provision that if the money did not adequately cover claims, women would get a second chance or “opt-out” to leave the settlement fund and pursue individual suits against manufacturers.

Despite the new deadline, implant manufacturers do not appear close to increasing their own contributions to the fund, which, without more money, could be in danger of collapsing.

Dow Corning Corp. of Midland, Mich., said it is committed to the $2 billion it has already pledged and will not give any more.

Another major contributor, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. of New York, is also standing by its promised $1.15 billion.

Last year, Pointer approved the $4.25-billion fund, the largest product-liability settlement in U.S. history. Earlier this summer, however, it was revealed that the amount would hardly cover the claims.

Some attorneys have said $24 billion would be needed to pay women what they were promised in a first round of payments that had been expected to cost just $1.2 billion.

That means women who were expecting net payments ranging from $105,000 to $1.4 million could receive as little as $5,250 to $70,000.