Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 15, 1994 TAG: 9402150051
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BIRMINGHAM, ALA. LENGTH: Medium
Some women with health problems from implants could receive up to $2 million each under the agreement, and others who aren't ill could be covered for medical examinations and implant removal, attorneys said.
The settlement must be finalized by the companies involved, reviewed by a plaintiffs' advisory committee, and approved by U.S. District Judge Sam Pointer in Birmingham. No date for a settlement hearing was set.
Pointer is overseeing the negotiations between about 20 corporations and attorneys representing hundreds of thousands of implant recipients.
The proposal was welcomed by women such as Joy Bryan of Lexington, Ky., who had her implants removed in 1991. She sued over symptoms including joint pain, memory loss, seizures and hair loss.
"It helps to ease the pain of the wrong that has been done to the women of this country," said Bryan, who got her implants in 1980 after a mastectomy.
Opponents of the proposed settlement said lawyers would take too much of it, and payments to women wouldn't be large enough.
Lawyers said the agreement would allow implant recipients to opt out of the class action and sue for damages on their own. The agreement also would allow women who have implants from now-bankrupt companies to participate in the settlement.
Under the agreement, Dow Corning Corp. of Midland, Mich., would pay $2 billion over 30 years; Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. of New York would pay up to $1.15 billion; and Baxter Healthcare Corp. of Deerfield, Ill., would pay $556 million.
by CNB