The 21-hour session was to settle details of a $3.2 billion settlement between the women and the company that once was the nation's leading maker of silicone breast implants.
The proposed settlement is incomplete, however, Dow Corning spokesman T. Michael Jackson said after the meeting at U.S. Bankruptcy Court here ended at 7:30 a.m.
The two sides began meeting about 10:30 a.m. Wednesday to try to overcome what Jackson called ''stumbling blocks'' in the tentative deal reached in July between Midland-based Dow Corning and lawyers for the 170,000 women.
Kenneth Eckstein, a New York attorney representing the women, described the proceedings as ''intense, good-faith negotiations.'' He told The Bay City Times the work was an ''important step in trying to bring this case to a resolution.''
Federal mediator Francis McGovern said late Wednesday that the two sides were working on four separate documents. He estimated that agreement had been reached on 80 percent of the material in each document. The session had been ordered by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Arthur Spector.
''They're sticky issues, and it's difficult to get through some of them. ... This was an effort, and a successful effort, at resolving some of them,'' Jackson said, without giving specifics.
Points on which the two sides reached agreement will be made public when the disclosure statement is filed, an action not expected for at least several weeks, Jackson said. The $3.2 billion plan will be filed in court Sept. 25, The Bay City Times and Midland Daily News reported.
Company chairperson and chief executive Richard Hazleton, who was at the federal building for much of the talks, said Dow Corning wants to see the matter resolved just as quickly as the women do.
"Everybody seems to be waiting on pins and needles for something to happen,'' said Betty Buikema, a leader of the Chicago-based Breast Implant Information Exchange support group. ''They can at least have hope that there's going to be a plan. It's one step to a closure.''
Since the tentative deal was reached in July, the two sides have struggled to transform the basics of the deal into a detailed ''disclosure statement'' containing specifics of the proposal, including payouts for the women.
McGovern and the negotiators plan a telephone conference call Tuesday to update Spector on their efforts, Jackson said.
Under the weight of implant-liability lawsuits, Dow Corning filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from creditors in 1995.
Hundreds of thousands of women with implants have claimed leaking silicone has caused serious diseases of the immune system such as lupus, which can lead to infections, depression, kidney disease and serious joint damage.
The company long has maintained that there's no scientific proof that silicone causes immune-system ailments.
09-11-98
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