Sulzer Implant Settlement

News

IMPORTANT NOTICE - On February 25, 2004, the Honorable Kathleen M. O'Malley, Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, issued an Order regarding procedures for filing an appeal of a Final Determination. To view a copy of the Court's Order click here.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: On October 31, 2003, the Honorable Kathleen M. O'Malley, Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, issued an Order that provided that certain contingent fee contracts, executed after February 2, 2002 between attorneys and Class Members, contained unenforceable contingent fee provisions. To view a copy of the Court's Order, click here. To view a copy of Claims Administrator Procedure 9 ("Contingent Fee Contracts Entered Into After February 2, 2002"), click here

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CLEVELAND, OHIO.-- December 19, 2002 -- James J. McMonagle, Claims Administrator to the Sulzer Settlement Trust, announced today that the Trust is issuing payments totaling over $285,000,000 to approximately 5,500 claimants who have filed Claims arising from the implantation of certain hip and knee replacement joints manufactured by United States subsidiaries of Swiss medical device manufacturer, Sulzer (now “Centerpulse”). The Trust was created pursuant to the Class Action Settlement Agreement, which was approved by the Honorable Kathleen M. O’Malley, United States District Judge of the Northern District of Ohio in May of this year. The $1 billion Settlement, which became final after no appeals were filed, provides compensation to Class Members who qualify for benefits.

To qualify for benefits, Class Members must prove that they were implanted with one of the hip or knee replacements involved in the Settlement. These products include specific hip replacements known as an Inter-Op™ Acetabular Shell and specific knee replacements known as a Natural Knee II® Tibial Baseplate. Class Members must submit Claim Forms and medical records proving that they were implanted with the specific products, known as “Affected Products” and that they otherwise meet the criteria spelled out in the Settlement Agreement necessary to receive a payment. The range of benefits depends on whether the Class Member can prove implantation of an Affected Product, whether the Affected Product has been removed and replaced in a subsequent surgery, and whether there have been further medical complications arising from the surgery or condition.

“Today’s payment is a tribute to Judge O’Malley’s hard work in approving a Settlement that provided compensation quickly and fairly to deserving claimants,” said Eric Kennedy, lead Class Counsel with Weisman, Goldberg & Weisman Co., in Cleveland. “Claimants getting paid today have worked hard to complete their claim forms and send in all of the necessary paperwork to allow the Claims Administrator to issue a determination that they are qualified for benefits.”

The Settlement Agreement contains specific deadlines by which Claimants must act to file their Claims. For further information, contact the office of the Claims Administrator at (800) 683-1861.

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On November 12, 2002, Judge O’Malley of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio approved the Seventh Amendment to the Settlement Agreement which provides as follows:

(i) Benefits from the APRS Fund will continue to be made in two installments (three for Class Members who elected the GPO). The first APRS Payment will be for 81.25%, not, as previously contemplated 55%, of the APRS Benefit amount. The first APRS Payment will therefore be $130,000, less any previously paid GPO Payment and less any offsets for Advance Payments made by Sulzer.

(ii) The second APRS Payment will be for the balance of the APRS benefit and will be paid after the date on which the Claims Administrator can make a reasonable estimate of the total number of APRS Claims to be submitted but no later than June 29, 2004;

(iii) The Claims Administrator must issue by July 1, 2003 a Preliminary Determination for complete EIF Claims that are submitted on or before April 1, 2003.

The text of the Seventh Amendment is available by clicking [here].