STICHTING ESSURE CLAIMS

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ESSURE

Essure is a permanent sterilization method for women, which would not require surgery and anesthesia.  Essure was launched on the market in 2001. Initially by Conceptus Inc. which was later acquired by Bayer.

Bayer (and before that Conceptus) presented Essure as a safe method of sterilization. It has since become apparent that only limited research has been done into the effect and the harmful (side) effects of the implant. In 2016 it came to light that many women experienced serious complaints due to Essure, such as chronic severe abdominal and/or back pain, fatigue complaints and perforated fallopian tubes, uterus or ovaries and other complaints. Bayer only decided in September 2017 to remove Essure from the European market. According to Bayer, not because of the defects in Essure and the large number of complaints, but because of disappointing sales figures.

In the Netherlands, approximately 30,000 women have had Essure implanted. Due to persistent complaints, between 3,000 to 5,000 women were required to have the Essure surgically removed. 

Stichting Essure Claims (the “Foundation”) stands up for all women who have had Essure implanted in the Netherlands and demands that Bayer compensate these women for their suffering and damage. 

If you have had an Essure implanted in the Netherlands, you can register with the Foundation by clicking on the registration link and sharing your details with us. We will of course handle your data with care. We explain this in our privacy statement.

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For more information on how to register with the Foundation

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THE FOUNDATION

Stichting Essure Claims is an independent Dutch foundation and defends the interests of women who have had an Essure implanted in the Netherlands and who have suffered damage as a result (the “injured women”).

We have researched (the implantation and surgical removal of) Essure in the Netherlands and provide/share information about this with the media, as well as on this website. 

In the first place, the Foundation is trying to reach a settlement in consultation with Bayer. If that fails, the Foundation will start legal proceedings for the injured women in the Netherlands. In these proceedings, we are seeking a ‘declaration of privilege’ that Bayer has acted unlawfully towards the injured women. In addition, we demand that Bayer pay compensation to the injured women. 

ADMINISTRATION

ADMINISTRATION

ANTOINETTE COLLIGNON

GUIDO ROOIJACKERS

JULES SCHAGEN VAN LEEUWEN

JULES SCHAGEN VAN LEEUWEN

The Foundation is managed by experienced directors with extensive relevant knowledge and expertise with regard to, among other things, gynaecology, medical product liability/personal injury and financial damage calculation:

Antoinette Collignon (chair): more than 30 years of experience as a personal injury lawyer. Among other things, she assists the victims of the MH-17 disaster.

Jules Schagen van Leeuwen (board member): doctor with more than 40 years of experience as a gynaecologist and women’s doctor in the Netherlands, Brazil and Ghana. He is a doctor in the Netherlands at the UMC Utrecht.

Guido Rooijackers (board member): an experienced specialist in business valuation and damage calculations.

SUPERVISORY BOARD

GEMMA KENTER

KARL PETER PUSZKAJLER

KIM SMIT

The supervisory board of Stichting Essure Claims consists of members with medical, legal and financial expertise:

Gemma Kenter (chair) former gynaecologist and professor of gynaecological oncology at various Dutch universities.

Karl Puszkajler former judge at the Court of Appeal in Munich (Germany). He has extensive experience in (collective action) law.

Kim Smit former member of the Board of Directors of the Leiden University Medical Center. She is also a former Chief Financial Officer of a large petrochemical company.

AGGRIEVED WOMEN

If you have had Essure implanted in the Netherlands, we will defend your interests and you can register for the action of Stichting Essure Claims against Bayer. 

We hold Bayer liable because it has placed a defective implant on the market and because it has acted unlawfully towards the injured women. In the proceedings, we will ask the court to make a classification of different categories of damages with corresponding compensation. Each woman will – depending on the number of operations and the number of complaints – be classified in a damage category. 

In order to conduct the proceedings against Bayer, the Foundation entered into an agreement with Financiering Essure Claims C.V., which is managed by the professional Dutch litigation financier Redbreast. This funder has no influence on the decision-making of the Foundation. The financier receives a cost reimbursement as compensation for the financing risk and 25% of the proceeds if the procedure is successful. 

NO-CURE, NO PAY

If you register, you only have to pay something (a contribution to the costs) if you receive compensation yourself. You then pay part of the costs and a premium that the litigation financier wants to receive. This amount is deducted from the compensation you receive and can vary between 25-30% of your compensation. It’s never more than 30%.

Of course, we will try to recover this amount (25-30%) from Bayer, because these are the costs that the Foundation must incur in order to attract funding to be able to conduct this procedure. The Foundation itself is not for profit. We pass the costs (25-30% of your claim) to the financier one-on-one. 

If the Foundation  loses the proceedings against Bayer, you do not have to pay anything.  This is at the expense and risk of the financier.

You can register via this link

You can unsubscribe by sending an e-mail to: INFO@ESSURECLAIMSNETHERLANDS.COM

PARTNERS

LEGAL ASSISTANCE

LEMSTRA VAN DER KORST

Lemstra Van der Korst NV is the law firm that assists the Foundation in the various legal matters, including: (i) entering into negotiations and preparing a lawsuit against Bayer, (ii) possibly entering into (collective) settlement negotiations with these entities, and (iii) conducting a collective action against Bayer.

POGUST GOODHEAD

Pogust Goodhead carries out the registration process of participants in the procedure on behalf of the Foundation and establishes contact with participating women. Pogust Goodhead answers many questions and helps the Foundation with its extensive knowledge of Essure and group procedures in the United States and the United Kingdom.

REDBREAST AND FINANCING ESSURE CLAIMS C.V.

Redbreast Associates N.V. manages the financing company Financiering Essure Claims C.V. which finances the proceedings of the Stichting. Redbreast is an experienced Dutch financier of (collective) proceedings and has a stable track record. Redbreast is led by experienced (former) lawyers and jurists of good repute. 

The Foundation has entered into a financing agreement with Funding Essure Claims C.V. This financier pays for the Foundation’s proceedings against Bayer. In exchange for this funding, in the event of a successful outcome of the procedure, the Foundation pays the financier a reimbursement of costs and 25% of the compensation awarded to the women participating in the procedure. 

If the procedure does not lead to compensation, the Foundation does not owe anything to the financier.

CONTACT

info@stichtingessureclaims.com

For more information about the Essure class action in the United Kingdom, please visit essureclaimlawyersuk.com

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Privacy Statement

KIM SMIT

Kim Smit (1970) is an experienced CFO, board member and supervisor with a high level of personal integrity. Kim Smit has built a wide and international career with a variety of functions at Royal Dutch Shell and more recently at the Leiden University Medical Centre. Kim Smit has experience and knowledge of organisation- and change-management, governance, long-term investments, risk management, ICT, compliance, treasury and strategy.

 

Professional experience

  • 2018-present: Member of the board of Directors Leiden University Medical Centre
  • 1993-2016 Royal Dutch Shell Group (latest position: CFO Al Karaana Petrochemicals and Vice-President Finance Contracting & Procurement)

Supervisory

  • Member Supervisory Board and President Audit Committee at Naturalis Biodiversity Center
  • Member Supervisory Board of Japan Museum Sieboldhuis
  • Member Supervisory Board and President Audit Committee at Omroep West
  • Member Supervisory Board at Stichting Leiden European City of Science 2022
  • Member Board Stichting Curium (ex officio)
  • President Supervisory Board Stichting Biopartner (ex officio)
  • Member of the Board at DHD (ex officio)

Education

  • 1988 Stedelijk Gymnasium Nijmegen
  • 1993 Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences-Po)

KARL PETER PUSZKAJLER

In his career as a judge Karl decided thousands of civil and criminal cases and gained expertise – inter alia – in all areas of commercial and corporate law. After retirement 2011 from the Court of Appeal in Munich he has focused his interests on international private law, corporate and capital market law and expanded his practice as an independent arbitrator both in domestic and international fora.

Since 2016 he advises counsel in major investors’ claims under the German Capital Market Model Procedure Law (KapMuG). He is co-director of the Dutch SICAF (Stichting Investor Claims Against Fortis) and member of the advisory board of the Stichting Steinhoff International Compensation Claims.

For decades he has been teaching and training lawyers and judges in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. He also consulted the Rwandan government in re-establishing the judiciary after genocide destroyed the country and recently advised the administration of the Autonomous Region Kurdistan (Irak) in a project to modernize enforcement proceedings.

He is the co-author of commentaries to the German law on limited liability companies (GmbHG) and on the compensation procedure for minority shareholders (SpruchG).

GEMMA KENTER

Gemma Kenter (1952) studied medicine at the UVA, after which she was trained as a gynecologist in Leiden and Amsterdam. She is a subspecialist in gynecological oncology and was head of the polyclinic in the LUMC from 1986-1997 and head of gynecological oncology in the LUMC from 1997-2009.

In 1991 she obtained her PhD in Utrecht with a thesis entitled “Aspects on treatment and prognosis in carcinoma of the uterine cervix”. In 2005 she was appointed professor of gynecological oncology with a special interest in immunotherapy. In August 2009 she became head of the Gynecological Oncology Center Amsterdam (AMC, AVL, VUmc). Her areas of interest are: “Late consequences of the treatment for cervical cancer” and “The role of the immune system in cervical cancer”. She has retired since December 2018.

GUIDO ROOIJACKERS

WORK EXPERIENCE

  • Business valuator and specialist in economic damages assessment
  • Partner at Sman Business Value (since 2002)

OTHER FUNCTIONS

  • Member of the board (secretary) of the Dutch Institute for Registered Valuators professional organisation (NIRV), (2006-2012)
  • Member of the board of De Maatschappij, departement Zaanstreek-Waterland

QUALIFICATIONS AND MEMBERSHIPS

  • Master in finance, Erasmus University Rotterdam
  • Member of the Dutch Association of Register Controllers (VRC)
  • Member of the Dutch Institute for Registered Valuators professional organisation (NIRV)
  • Member of the European Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts (EACVA)
  • Registered expert in the Dutch national register of judicial experts (LRGD)

ANTOINETTE COLLIGNON

WORK EXPERIENCE

  • 1990 – 1996: Lawyer at amongst others Marree & Dijxhoorn and Beer Advocaten
  • Since 2010 partner and lawyer at Legaltree

She is a specialist in (cross-border) liability and bodily injury cases, product liability, employer liability and international private law. She advises insurers, international loss adjustment agencies, and businesses, as well as victims. In international cases, she works closely with law firms of good repute in Europe and the United States.

OTHER FUNCTIONS

  • PEOPIL (Pan European Organisation for Personal Injury Lawyers), co-founder, 1997; first Dutch member and first female president from 2009 – September 2013
  • Member of: LSA (Association for Personal Injury Lawyers), VASR (Association for liability and damages law)
  • IETL (Institute for European Traffic Law)
  • Board member: GJN (Global Justice Network)
  • Chairwoman of the external Inappropriate Conduct Complaints Committee, PANTAR, Amsterdam
  • Lecturer at SDU, Kerckebosch, Legalplanet, AVDR

 

JULES SCHAGEN VAN LEEUWEN

WORK EXPERIENCE

  • 1978: Medical doctor – Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht
  • 1976 – 1977: Worked in rural hospitals in Brasil, states Pará en Ceará
  • 1978: ECFMG; U.S. certificate for foreign medical graduates
  • 1978 – 1980: Training in Obstetrics & Gynecology and tropical medicine
  • 1980 – 1985: Medical officer (in charge) of Holy Family Hospital, Berekum, Ghana
  • 1986 – 1991: Training in Obstetrics & Gynecology, Academic Hospital Utrecht and St. Joseph Hospital Eindhoven
  • 1991 – 2019: Consultant in Obstetrics & Gynaecology at St Antonius Hospital , Nieuwegein/Utrecht the Netherlands
  • 2019: Guest lecturer and sub-specialist Urogynaecology in Radboud UMC Nijmegen, Teaching OVHipec at Gleneagles Hospital Hong Kong, Auditor DNV-GL in UMCG Groningen, Gynaecologist at Mungra Medical Centre, Nickerie, Suriname, Visiting teaching medical specialist Djokjakarta, Solo and Semarang Midden Java
    2020: Working at Holy Family Hospital, Berekum, Ghana
 

OTHER FUNCTIONS

  • Trainer gynecology & obstetrics 1994-2017
  • Member central training committee St. Antonius hospital until 2018
  • Member complaints committee St Antonius hospital (to date)
  • Head of Research and Development Gynecology & Obstetrics St Anthony until 2019
  • Member and co-founder of the national system on quality control (visiting teaching and non teaching hospitals and accreditation) of the NVOG; 1986-2005
  • Member of the Concilium of the NVOG; 1987-1991
  • Member of committee on patient education NVOG; www.nvog.nl (present)
  • Member Ghana committee on pelvic floor disorders IUGA; www.iuga.org (present)
    Chairman library committee St. Antonius 
  • Hospital-(2018)
  • Member of Working party International Safe Motherhood and Family Planning (past president & treasurer)
  • Member of the working group for the promotion of expertise of general practitioners in Utrecht
  • Chairman of the Berekum Foundation (foundation for the promotion of medical knowledge in Berekum, Ghana; www.berekum.nl

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