HEALTH

Settlement May Exclude Dow Corning Corp.: Negotiators working to restructure a $4.25-billion breast implant settlement before a deadline today concede that they may have to exclude the biggest contributor because of its bankruptcy filing in May. Plaintiffs’ lawyers said they were still working on a modified settlement with the other former implant manufacturers, including Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing Co., Union Carbide Corp. and Baxter Healthcare Corp. Dow Corning had pledged to contribute $2 billion but filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection because so many women were pursuing litigation against the company outside of the settlement. The largest product liability settlement in U.S. history was designed to set up a trust fund to pay medical claims for women with implants over the next 30 years. The court overseeing the case said the amount was inadequate. If the case is dissolved, however, thousands of women will be pushed back into the court system to press their claims.