ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, September 6, 1996 TAG: 9609060028
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: DETROIT
Breast implant maker Dow Corning Corp. is about to launch an $8 million advertising campaign to tell women around the world of new deadlines for filing claims if they think its implants made them sick.
The forms - required of all claimants, even those who have already filed lawsuits - are designed to help Dow complete its bankruptcy reorganization, the company said Thursday.
The ad blitz was ordered in June by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Arthur Spector in Bay City, Mich., near Dow Corning's headquarters in Midland. They start today in USA Today and will appear in 15 countries - in newspapers, magazines, on network and cable television and on the Internet.
Their main message is that U.S. residents with Dow Corning implants have until Jan. 15, 1997, to file; those living overseas have until Feb. 14. Although filing a claim doesn't guarantee a payment, those who fail to do so will be ineligible.
Dow Corning, once the leading maker of silicone implants, stopped making them in 1992 after questions arose about their safety. Dow Corning and other makers agreed to a $4 billion settlement two years ago, but it collapsed under the weight of too many claims and Dow subsequently filed for bankruptcy protection because of the enormity of the potential liability.
- Associated Press
LENGTH: Short : 34 linesby CNB