THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 9, 1995 TAG: 9509090308
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: BIRMINGHAM, ALA. LENGTH: Short : 46 lines
Breast-implant recipients and their lawyers predicted a flood of new suits Friday after a federal judge said he will probably kill a $4.25 billion settlement of their health claims.
``Everybody's panicking because this thing fell apart,'' said Louise Romans, a plaintiff support group leader from Winter Springs, Fla.
The settlement, negotiated with implant manufacturers in 1993 and approved last year by U.S. District Judge Sam Pointer, has proved insufficient because many more women have filed claims than expected.
Weeks of negotiations failed to produce a larger agreement and Pointer said late Thursday he would scuttle the deal around the end of the month, barring unforeseen developments.
Neither the judge, women's attorneys nor manufacturers expressed much hope a new deal could be reached.
``I have been operating on the basis that there was a settlement,'' Pointer said in an interview. ``Now, I'm operating on the basis that there has not been a settlement.''
About 443,000 women registered to participate in the settlement. Many of them had not previously filed suit, but could do so if the agreement fails.
``There are going to be hundreds of thousands of lawsuits filed if this deal falls apart,'' said Ralph Knowles of Atlanta, one of six attorneys who negotiated the deal for women.
Pointer presides in about 12,000 federal implant suits that were consolidated in the settlement. At least that many are believed pending in state courts.
One implant recipient said Friday that some women were near suicide. ``But they've got to realize that Judge Pointer is looking out for them,'' said Linda Garner of Moundville. MEMO: HOT LINE
The court's toll-free hot line for recorded information on the breast
implant settlement is 1-800-887-6828.
by CNB