|
http://sfdct.com/home.cfm?agree=9&lang=eng
DECEMBER 10, 2004
This Administrator's Corner
Last Updated: 12/01/2004 @ 6:14 PM
Dear Claimants and Counsel: As you know, November 29, 2004 marked the
deadline to Opt-Out of the Settlement option to litigate your claim.
If you have not already returned your Participation Form checking box
2B, you will remain in the Settlement Option. We continue to receive
about 4,000 calls a week, if you leave a voice mail or send an e-mail,
it is taking Claims Assistance approximately 10 business days to
respond to your queries. We anticipate the interactive web site will
be available to claimants remaining in the settlement in early 2005.
We will be asking some of you to assist in testing the new program
over the coming weeks. We thank you in advance for your help. If you
do not already have an e-mail account, please understand that will be
necessary to access the web site.
Please keep the following information in mind.
As a reminder, if you were a participant in the Removal Assistance
Program (RAP) you must submit an Explant Claim Form in order to be
reviewed for Explant benefits.
We have had some requests for Increased Severity reviews, however, per
SFA, Section 7.01(c)(iv), these payments will not be made until after
all Allowed and allowable Claims have been paid, including those
settled under the Litigation Facility Agreement.
For those of you who are in Class 7 (Silicone Materials Claimants),
under Annex A, Section 6.04(h)(iii) no distributions of Disease Claims
will be made from the Silicone Materials Claimants Fund until each
timely Silicone Material Claim is reviewed and evaluated under the
Settlement Option selected and the one-year deadline to cure
deficiencies, if any, has expired. Therefore you will not receive a
payment for your claim in this calendar year.
For those of you who have a claim in Class 9, 10.1 or 10.2 (Other
Products), under Annex A, Section 6.03(i)(ii) the Settlement Facility
must review and evaluate all timely Other Products claims before
distributing Medical Condition Payments to Other Product Claimants.
Therefore, claimants will not receive a payment from the Other
Products Fund in this calendar year.
Also, please keep in mind that claimants are reviewed for settlement
benefits in the order that their claims were received. Weve noticed
that some of you have not yet filed a Proof of Manufacturer form.
Please understand that, you must submit acceptable proof of at least
one Dow Corning implant (depending on the benefit option for which you
are applying). Once you meet these requirements, your claim for
settlement benefits will be reviewed in the order in which it was
received. If you are just now submitting your claim forms, you will be
in line among the more than 100,000 other claimants who have submitted
claim forms over the past year. Hopefully this information will prove
helpful in answering your questions concerning the status of your
claim.
For those of you who were unable to attend one of the information
sessions, we have posted the Claimant Information Session presentation
on our website. It is available for viewing in the Downloads section
of the website. Thank you for your continued patience and cooperation
as we move through this busy time.
~~~~~~~~~~~
www.BreastImplantAwareness.org
|
| |
| |
|
