Robins Moves to Provide New Dalkon Shield Fund

RICHMOND, Va. —  A. H. Robins Co. and three other parties in the company’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy case moved Wednesday to provide a $15-million emergency fund to help certain victims of the company’s Dalkon Shield birth control device.

The motion submitted to U.S. Bankruptcy Court, if approved, would pay for reconstructive surgery or artificial fertilization for eligible women who were injured by the birth control device, which Robins sold in the early 1970s.

The motion was filed jointly by Robins, the company’s outside examiner and by representatives of Dalkon Shield claimants and future claimants.

Robins President E. Claiborne Robins Jr. said the company recognized that a number of claimants “may be deprived of the opportunity to benefit from these procedures if they must be deferred until payments can begin under a confirmed Chapter 11 plan. We believe this program represents a viable solution.”

Robins filed its reorganization plan on April 16. The plan would create a $1.75-billion trust fund to compensate women who suffered injuries from using the intrauterine device.

However, attorneys for women claimants have criticized elements of the trust fund. Those complaints indicate that it could be several months to a year or longer before a final reorganization plan is adopted.

Under the emergency proposal, claimants for tubal surgery or in vitro fertilization would have to produce certain medical records and be under age 40. The program would be administered by Francis E. McGovern, a court-appointed expert who has been assisting in the Robins case.

The Richmond-based pharmaceutical giant filed for Chapter 11 protection from creditors in August, 1985, in the wake of mounting claims against the Dalkon Shield. The IUD was blamed for a number of medical problems suffered by users, ranging from pelvic infections to sterility.