If you purchased a Steris System 1 before Jan. 1, 2009, you may be eligible for a piece of the $20 million proposed settlement reached in a class action lawsuit filed against Steris over the sale of its controversial tabletop liquid chemical processing system.

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio granted preliminary approval to the proposed settlement on March 3; the court will meet again to decide whether to grant final approval on June 6. The settlement provides benefits worth approximately $20 million to about 6,600 Steris customers, according to a press release from the law firm Chimicles & Tikellis, which brought the class action suit against Steris over the marketing and sale of the SS1.

"There are no allegations in this case that the SS1 devices create a safety hazard," note the plaintiffs' attorneys, "nor that anyone has been harmed as a result of using the SS1 devices." Steris denies all claims made in the suit. "We thought it was best to settle the suit and provide further incentive to our customers to assist with their System 1 transition, rather than incur legal fees," says Stephen Norton, Steris' director of corporate communications and government affairs, in a statement e-mailed to Outpatient Surgery.

The settlement, which includes credits for certain Steris products as well as cash in some cases, covers customers who purchased an SS1 before Jan. 2009, because those who purchased SS1 devices after that date are already eligible for refunds through Steris' rebate program for the now-discontinued system. The FDA and Steris have urged SS1 users to replace the system by August 2011.

Those customers who are eligible for benefits under the proposed settlement will be mailed a full written notice of the settlement and a claims form to fill out and mail by Dec. 31, 2012. For more information on the proposed settlement, you eligibility for benefits and how to claim them, call (888) 870-1058 or your Steris sales representative, or check www.sterilizersettlement.com. The site is not live yet, but will have a full explanation of the proposed settlement when it's activated.

Irene Tsikitas