Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1996. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1996. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Reuters NewMedia, Inc. - Friday, 25 October 1996
Richard Jacobsen
A total of 6,900 U.S. hemophiliacs opted for the settlement, of whom an independent administrator determined 6,500 had valid claims, a spokesman for the companies said.
Each person with a valid claim will get $100,000, paid by the companies according to their share of the blood-clotting products market at the time, the spokesman, Guy Esnouf, said.
Germany's Bayer AG had a 45 percent share while Deerfield Ill.-based Baxter International Inc. a 20 percent share.
Rhone-Poulenc Rorer Inc.'s Armour Pharmaceutical Co. had a 20 percent share and Japan's Green Cross Corp.'s Alpha Therapeutic Corp. unit a 15 percent share.
Rhone-Poulenc Rorer is a majority-owned pharmaceutical unit of France's Rhone-Poulenc SA.
The settlement covers U.S. cases only. Settlements have been reached before with hemophiliacs in other countries including Germany, Japan and Canada.
Of the 6,500 opting for the settlement, over 800 currently have lawsuits against at least one of the companies. They will be giving up their suits if the settlement goes forward, the Esnouf said.
The settlement also calls for the companies' payment of lawyers fees, initially set at up to a total of $40 million.
About 600 people opted not to take part in the settlement, of which about 550 were determined to have eligible claims. Of those 380 have lawsuits pending, the spokesman said.
Those who have opted out can pursue their cases against the companies.
But those who have opted for the settlement and anyone else not responding to proposal will not be able to pursue legal action, Esnouf said. "This is an attempt to resolve the issue at one go," he said.
The companies have until Nov. 22 to decide whether to take the settlement forward, the spokesman said.
If they decide to proceed, a federal court in Chicago will determine its final approval, pending resolution of certain eligibility issues. The next hearing on the settlement is scheduled for Nov. 25.
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