This is the 114th e-newsletter (Vol. 11, No. 9) from the Claimants' Advisory Committee (CAC) in the Dow Corning bankruptcy Settlement Plan. You were sent a copy of the newsletter because our records show that you requested to be on the mailing list. If you wish to unsubscribe, click here or to reply to this newsletter, send an email to: info@tortcomm.org. Please do not hit �Reply� to this email address. To contact the CAC, use the email address: info@tortcomm.org or dpend440@aol.com. You can also contact the CAC directly at 419-394-0717.
The Settlement Facility is continuing to issue partial Premium Payments to approved Rupture and Disease Claims in Classes 5, 6.1 and 6.2. Payments are being issued in the order in which the original claim was approved. Since the SF-DCT prioritized and approved Rupture claims in 2003-04, most of the first batches of partial Premium Payments are for Rupture.
Premium Payments are not available to Late Claimants or Class 7 (Silicone Gel Claimants). The Plan as approved by the Court did not include any provisions to make Premium Payments to these groups of claimants.
Dow Corning filed its Reply brief with the Court of Appeals concerning the District Court�s approval of partial Premium Payments. A copy of this brief and all briefs on this issue can be found on the CAC website at www.tortcomm.org. We have not yet received a date for oral argument on this motion.
Oral argument has been scheduled for Thursday, June 26th before the Court of Appeals on the issue concerning the eligibility of tissue expanders claims to participate in the settlement as �Breast Implant� claims. We expect a ruling sometime later in 2014.
We are pleased to inform you that the parties have selected and the District Court has approved Judge Pamela Harwood as the successor Appeals Judge. Judge Harwood served as a state court judge in Michigan from 1985 � 2004. Since that time, she has worked as a mediator and special master, including mediating opt-out claims in the Litigation Facility. The parties have also submitted a proposed order to the District Court that would name her as the successor Lien Judge as well. The order appointing her as the Appeals Judge is available on the CAC website at www.tortcomm.org.
The Settlement Facility reports that, as a result of the June 2nd Explant deadline, they have received several thousand claim forms for Proof of Manufacture, Explant, Expedited Release and Disease. This may cause a slight backlog in the processing of claims, especially as the SFDCT works to continue issuing partial Premium Payments.
CLASS 7 STATUS � The parties are continuing their efforts to work with the SFDCT to finalize the Class 7 payments to approved Disease Claims. It is our intention to request approval of the District Court to allow these claims to be paid by the end of this year.
Through MAY 31, 2014, the SF-DCT has received 81,438 Proof of Manufacturer claim forms in Classes 5, 6.1 and 6.2 (Dow Corning Breast Implant Claims). Of this number, 66,394 or 82% have acceptable proof of at least one Dow Corning breast implant. Of the 66,394 Dow Corning breast implant claimants with acceptable proof of manufacturer, almost 33% (one-third) or 21,953 women have been approved for a Rupture claim for their Dow Corning silicone gel breast implant.