susans3733

Feds Can Seek Funds From Implant Deal

..c The Associated Press

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - The federal government can seek reimbur*****t for the
cost of treating women with silicone breast implants under a $4.2 billion
settlement of implant claims, a federal appeals court ruled.

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a decision made public Tuesday,
ordered a lower court to reinstate the government's lawsuit seeking money for
the cost of covering Medicare beneficiaries.

The ruling stemmed from a 1995 settlement of thousands of lawsuits by women who
claimed implants endangered their health or made them sick. A judge in
Birmingham presided over the case.

The government sought money through the settlement for the cost of caring for
women who blamed health problems on implants, but a federal judge dismissed the
case.

The 11th Circuit, however, said the case can go forward, but it did not rule on
whether the government should receive money through the settlement. It left
that issue for the lower court to consider.

The settlement initially involved eight companies, but it now involves only
Baxter International Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., 3M Co., Union Carbide
Corp. and Union Carbide Chemical and Plastics Co.

09/16/03 16:04 EDT

susans3733

Question submitted from another group:

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! If they're safe and don't make us sick how can they collect
for taking "care of us"? I smell a rat!
BTW.....................does any one have damage to their sciatic never and the
2 nerves that branch off of it? Constant pain down their leg and buttocks????
.... Anyone out there having problems with this they can't explain away to
injury? I've had it for almost a year now and am just about at the end of my
rope. Can't sit or lay without terrible pain that then continues through the
day and night unrelieved by none of the "super" anti inflammatory drugs. Don't
know how much longer I can go on with this constant pain sometimes. Any of
you?

coleah

When I had that, it was a herniated disc. Spent 3 months on my back, then
physical therapy, back exercises and rest. It took 5 years after that
before I felt 'normal' again. Nothing to do with implants.

kathi

I have always questioned how silicone can cause problems for us enough
to cause the government to be awarded their $9.8 million back in '02,
but yet there is no evidence when it comes to implantees collecting
anything or even being allowed any serious credibility in the matter.

I have the same problem with the sciatic nerve. Anti inflammatory meds
do not work for nerve pain. Sciatic problems are common with
necrotising systemic vasculi**** and many respiratory problems
especially COPD, both of which some of the men and women suffer from so
it would be surprising if we don't find more of this, although the
sciatic nerve is the cause of problems for many women in the thirty and
over group from carrying and holding babies on their hips in earlier
years.

Kathi