In re: Settlement Facility Dow Corning Trust, 09-1827

Challenge to interpretation of bankruptcy orders involving settlement of lawsuits for breast implants

In re: Settlement Facility Dow Corning Trust, 09-1827 , concerned a challenge to a district court's interpretation of two orders entered by a bankruptcy court of Dow Corning's Amended Joint Plan of Reorganization (Plan), arising from Chapter 11 proceedings to facilitate settlement of thousands of lawsuits relating to breast implants it had manufactured.

Because the Plan's definition of "Breast Implant" in section 11.7 of the Plan is ambiguous, district court's order with respect to tissue expanders is vacated and remanded to allow it to assess the relevant extrinsic evidence.  The court then reversed the district court's order with respect to the Plan's definition of total disability in concluding that Dow Corning's reading of the provision that a claimant must be disabled in both categories - vocation and self-care - is correct.

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• Read the Sixth Circuit's Full Decision in In re: Settlement Facility Dow Corning Trust, 09-1827