NEW ORLEANS, LA, February 14, 2014 — Garretson Resolution Group (“GRG”), the Claims Administrator of the Deepwater Horizon Medical Benefits Class Action Settlement, is pleased to announce that the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit entered an order earlier this week granting the unopposed motion to dismiss the last remaining appeals to the settlement. The Fifth Circuit’s order clears the way for the Deepwater Horizon Medical Benefits Class Action Settlement (“Medical Benefits Settlement”) to go effective and allows the qualifying class members to begin to receive the valuable benefits provided by the Medical Benefits Settlement.
“We will work diligently, accurately and fairly for the parties, class members and the Court involved in this settlement process,” said GRG Founder and CEO Matt Garretson.
GRG will now be able to immediately begin the process of notifying class members of the status of their claims, to begin processing payments to class members with complete and qualifying claims for compensation, and to begin scheduling appointments for class members with qualifying claims for participation in a periodic medical consultation program.
Importantly, class members have one year from the effective date—or until February 12, 2015—to submit a claim. A copy of the proof of claim form is available on the Medical Benefits Settlement at deepwaterhorizonmedicalsettlement.com.
The Medical Benefits Settlement is a settlement between BP Exploration & Production Inc. and BP America Production Company and Class Counsel in the action captioned In Re: Oil Spill by the Oil Rig “Deepwater Horizon” in the Gulf of Mexico, on April 20, 2010, Case Number 2:10-md-2179, pending in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, and settles numerous lawsuits arising out of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The Medical Benefits Settlement provides benefits to qualifying individuals who were clean-up workers or who resided in specific geographic areas in coastal and wetland areas along the Gulf Coast during specific periods in 2010. The Medical Benefits Settlement is separate and distinct from the Deepwater Horizon Economic and Property Damages Settlement, which is designed to provide compensation to individuals who suffered economic loss or property damage as a result of the spill and is administered by a different entity.
As the Claims Administrator, it is GRG’s responsibility to implement and administer the Medical Benefits Settlement Agreement, including: (1) payments to qualifying class members for certain acute (short-term) and chronic (ongoing) medical conditions from exposure to the oil or chemical dispersants; (2) provision of periodic medical consultations to qualifying class members; and (3) a Gulf Region Health Outreach Program, consisting of projects to strengthen the healthcare system in certain Gulf Coast areas.
For more information about GRG, please visit www.garretsongroup.com.
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