Implant Plaintiffs Ask for $3.8 Billion

Breast implant plaintiffs, unsatisfied with Dow Corning Corp.’s latest bankruptcy reorganization plan, proposed Tuesday that the company pay up to $3.8 billion to cover injury claims for hundreds of thousands of women.

Terms of the alternative plan were filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Bay City, Mich., along with a motion seeking to end an exclusive period during which only Dow Corning could submit reorganization plans.

The move comes less than a month after Dow Corning, a joint venture between Dow Chemical Co. and Corning Inc., filed its third reorganization plan in nearly three years of bankruptcy protection. The latest Dow Corning plan would set aside $3 billion for silicone-gel implant claims, as well as $1.4 billion for commercial claims.

Besides seeking an additional $800 million for implant claims, plaintiffs’ lawyers say their plan is more expedient, with the bulk of the claims to be paid in two to three years. Plaintiffs say some women would wait up to a decade to obtain payments under the Dow Corning plan, but the company estimates a six-year payment period, while allowing new claims to be filed for 16 years.

“There’s still an enormous gulf between the two plans and the benefits they would provide,” said Ralph Knowles, an Atlanta attorney representing plaintiff groups. “This is not another negotiating document; it’s our bottom-line offer.”

Dow Corning filed for bankruptcy protection in May 1995 under the weight of thousands of lawsuits from women who claim the company’s silicone-gel breast implants caused illnesses ranging from lupus and rheumatoid arthritis to atypical diseases resulting in chronic pain and fatigue.

Dow Corning’s last two reorganization plans were widely criticized by plaintiffs and were rejected by U.S. District Judge Arthur Spector.

The plaintiffs’ plan calls for Dow Corning to pay a minimum of $2.5 billion as a base payment to settle claims from hundreds of thousands of women. But Dow Corning could be forced to pay another $1.3 million in claims if it loses a court ruling on the issue of whether implants cause disease.

Dow Corning has long maintained that scientific studies show no link between implants and disease, a claim plaintiffs dispute.