The Trust was established, in part, to compensate two categories of personal injury claims (Category D and Future Tort Claims). 

Category D Claims

Category D Claims are for those individuals who filed a claim with the Court in the bankruptcy proceedings which established the Trust, before August 12, 2009.  If you did not submit a claim with the bankruptcy Court prior to August 12, 2009 you cannot submit a Category D claim now. 

The Trust continues to issue payments to approved Category D claimants, via supplemental allocations. The timing of each claimant’s payment depends on various factors, including the submission of a properly executed Release, any continuing healthcare lien resolution obligations stemming from Medicare or Medicaid insurance coverage, and any open probate or bankruptcy matters that need to be resolved.

Future Tort Claims (Category A)

Under the Trust’s guidelines, Future Tort Claims are designed to compensate eligible folks whose injuries did not get diagnosed or become obvious until after August 12, 2009. Any claims submitted after August 12, 2009 will only be considered as potential Future Tort Claims. 

Since 2012, the Trust has received nearly 40,000 Future Tort Claims, which is about ten times the number of those claims the Trust was expected (and originally designed) to compensate. Given the extraordinarily high numbers of claims received so far, the Trust is currently projecting that claims in Category A, including Future Tort Claims, will receive less than 1% of the amount of their scheduled value. So, for example, an approved Category A claimant with a scheduled award value of $1,000 is currently projected to receive less than $10.00. If claim filings continue at current levels, the projected payment percentage may need to be lowered 

Court Rulings on Denied Future Tort Claims

In March 2021 and March 2022, the Court issued two separate decisions and individual rulings regarding the denials of nearly 4,700 total Future Tort Claims. The Court’s rulings stemmed from motions submitted in 2018 and 2021 which sought Court review of whether certain Future Tort Claims had been improperly denied. 

On March 3, 2022 the Court issued this Decision regarding various Motions for Reconsideration of its 2021 Order as well as rulings pertaining to claimants who had submitted supplemental claims records. On March 3, 2022 the Court also issued this Order specifying means of Notice for his Decision, including the Notice procedure for Exhibits A-H pertaining to the individual rulings. Exhibits A-H are linked here. Copies of Exhibits A-H, as well as the Notice for each Order, are also being mailed out to each respective claimant to whom the Court’s rulings pertain. 

The Court’s overall Opinion from March 2021 rendering decisions on 4,676 cases can be read here.  The Court’s decision on each of the 4,676 individual motions decided in 2021 can be found here. 

Again, only individuals who filed motions with the Court challenging the Trust’s denial of their claim will see a ruling on their claim. If you did not file a Motion with the Court you will not see a ruling.  If the Trust previously allowed your Future Tort Claim there is no need to take any further action at this time.  Your claim has been processed and is waiting in the queue for the total number of allowed claimants to be finalized, and each claimant’s pro rata share of the award to be determined.  

While the Court was reviewing these motions, no Category A Future Tort Claim payments could be made because the final number of approved claimants could not be established. Nor could the Trust determine the appropriate pro rata share of the award value that each Future Tort Claim is entitled to receive. 

Since the Court has now issued its Decision, the Trust will continue processing Future Tort Claims pursuant to the Court’s rulings.  But, the Trust does not expect to finalize the number of approved claimants, and each approved claimant’s pro rata share of the award value, until the end of 2022. Consequently, no payments will likely be issued to approved Future Tort claimants until 2023. 

Individuals who hold Category A Claims (including Future Tort Claims) that have been allowed by the Trust will receive written notice directly from the Trust when the Trust is able to make a reasonable determination of the appropriate percentage that Future Tort Claims are entitled to receive. The Trust will provide further general updates on this website when additional information becomes available.