In re Dental Supplies Antitrust Litigation

United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Case No. 1:16-CV-00696

Important Note (May 22, 2023) - Please be advised that the Motion submitted to the Court in support of a third distribution has been APPROVED. You may view the document here. Payments are expected to be sent out 30-45 days from the date of the Court approval.

Important Note (May 5, 2023) – Please be advised that a Motion has been submitted to the Court to approve a third distribution of funds remaining due to uncashed checks and unclaimed funds remaining after the second distribution. You can review those documents here. If the Court grants the Motion, checks will be distributed to Class Members according to the Plan of Allocation and who were approved for payment in the initial distribution, cashed their check in the first and second distribution, would not have received their full pro rata payment already, and would receive $5 or more in the third distribution. You may look up whether you will be receiving a payment and also the amount by Class Member ID here. There are four tabs.  The first tab is for those who will be receiving a payment and had supply and equipment purchases; the second tab is for those who will be receiving a payment and just had equipment purchases only; the third tab is for those who will not receive a payment and had a supply purchase; and the fourth tab is for those who will not receive a payment and had equipment purchases.

Important Note (January 31, 2022) – Please be advised that a Motion has been submitted to the Court to approve a second distribution of funds remaining due to uncashed checks and unclaimed funds. You can review those documents here. Checks will be distributed to Class Members who were approved for payment in the initial distribution, cashed their check, and would not have received their full pro rata payment already. You may look up whether you will be receiving a payment and also the amount by Class Member ID here. There are three tabs.  The first tab is for those who will be receiving a payment and had both supply and equipment purchases; the second tab is for those who will be receiving a payment and just had equipment purchases; and the third tab is for those whose initial payment fulfilled their pro rata payment in the initial distribution.

Important Note (October 13, 2020) - Please be advised that final claim determinations, payment calculations, and mailing of distribution checks have been completed in the In re Dental Supplies Antitrust Settlement.  Please allow at least two weeks for delivery.  Plaintiffs' Counsel had filed a Motion with the Court to request approval for distribution.  You may review the Order and Motion on this website on the ‘Documents’ page.  Additionally, you may look up your payment amount by Class Member ID here.  Note there are two tabs in this file, the first tab is for those who had both supply and equipment purchases, and the second tab is for those with equipment purchases only.


Important Update:    The Final Approval Hearing was held on June 24, 2019, and Final Approval was granted and filed on June 25, 2019.  An appeal of this Order was filed on July 18, 2019.  Mailing of personalized Purchase History Forms, which will include totals of Defendants' data of purchases of Dental Supplies and/or Equipment to those who have registered, will occur once the appeal has been resolved.   Only registered Class Members will be mailed a Purchase History Form.  Once you receive your Purchase History Form, if you agree with Defendants' records, you will be asked to sign and submit the Purchase History Form and will not need to provide further information.  If you do not agree with Defendants' records, you will be required to submit your Purchase History Form and supply documentation to support your claimed purchases.  If you require further information or have additional questions, you can submit an email through the Contact section of this website.

Important Message:  It has come to our attention that solicitation for information and/or assistance to file a claim in the Dental Supplies Antitrust Class Action is being made by multiple "claims assistance companies," and through the website "dentalclaim dot org" in association with Budyonny Law Group ("BLG").   Class Counsel, the Court, and the Claims Administrator are not affiliated with those companies, nor that website nor that law firm.   Please note that these are third-parties who are attempting to file your claim for a fee.  The use of any third-party filer is not necessary in this action as the Claims Administrator can answer any questions regarding the registration process or the filing of a claim.  Providing information to those companies,  "dentalclaim dot org" or BLG is not submitting a claim or registration in the Dental Supplies Antitrust Class Action, which can only be done through the Claims Administrator and the Court-approved process available on this website or through the mail.

April 16, 2019 - Important Note: The Court has Ordered a change in the deadlines for filing an exclusion or objection, along with filing a claim. The date of the Final Approval Hearing has also moved.  A copy of the Order can be found in the Documents section of this website. Below are the key updated deadlines:

Exclusion and Objection deadline - May 13, 2019.
Final Approval Hearing date - June 14, 2019 at 12pm.  Same location.
Claim Registration Deadline - October 15, 2019.


March 14, 2019 - Please Note:  The Long Form Notice originally posted to this website contained a typographical error.  The answer to Question #11 on page 6 of the Long Form Notice, “How will the lawyers be paid?”, contained wording that Class Counsel will seek expenses “not to exceed $3,500,000.”  That figure should have been “not to exceed $5,000,000.”  The Long Form Notice has been corrected and updated in the Documents section of this website.



If you purchased dental supplies or equipment from Henry Schein, Patterson, Benco Dental Supply, or Burkhart Dental Supply, an $80 million class action settlement may affect you.


A federal court preliminary approved the Settlement. You are not being sued. This is not a solicitation from a lawyer.

•    There is a class action lawsuit known as In re Dental Supplies Antitrust Litigation, No 16-cv-00696, against Henry Schein, Inc. (“Schein”), Patterson Companies, Inc. (“Patterson”), and Benco Dental Supply Company (“Benco”) (collectively, “Defendants”), pending in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. 

•    The Settlement at issue is for the benefit of a Class of persons and entities defined as follows: All persons or entities that purchased Dental Products directly from Schein, Patterson, Benco, Burkhart, or any combination thereof, during the period beginning August 31, 2008 through and including March 31, 2016 (the “Class Period”) (the “Class” or the “Settlement Class”). If you fall within the Settlement Class definition, you are a “Settlement Class Member.”

•    Under the proposed Settlement, Defendants – who each continue to categorically and emphatically deny the allegations and claims in the litigation, but have agreed to the Settlement to resolve the case – have collectively agreed to pay $80 million to resolve all of the claims that were brought or could have been brought in the antitrust suit on behalf of the Settlement Class (the “Settlement”).

•    Burkhart Dental Supply Company (“Burkhart”) was at one time named as a defendant in this lawsuit, but the case was subsequently dismissed against Burkhart on personal jurisdiction grounds. Because Burkhart is no longer a defendant in this action, it is not paying any portion of the Settlement funds or otherwise participating in the Settlement. This does not, however, affect the ability of any class members who were Burkhart customers to participate in the Settlement.

•    The Settlement offers cash payments to Settlement Class Members who file valid timely Claims.


YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS AND OPTIONS IN THIS SETTLEMENT

 

EXCLUDE YOURSELF

You may request to be excluded from the Settlement, and if you do, you will receive no payment from the Settlement. The deadline to exclude yourself from the Settlement is May 13, 2019. Excluding yourself from the Settlement is the only way to retain your right to sue Defendants on your own over the claims alleged in the lawsuit.

 

OBJECT

Write to the Court if you want to comment on or do not like the Settlement. You must provide specific reasons for your objection. See FAQ 6  for more information. The postmarked deadline to object is May 13, 2019.

 

 

GO TO THE FAIRNESS HEARING

The Court has scheduled a hearing to evaluate the fairness of the Settlement and Class Counsel’s request for attorneys’ fees, reimbursement of costs, and incentive awards for the named Plaintiffs to take place on June 14, 2019 at 12:00 p.m. (the “Fairness Hearing”). You may attend the hearing at your own expense, but it is not necessary. You may ask to speak in court about the fairness of the Settlement or any award of fees or costs or any award of service awards if you did not exclude yourself, but you must first notify counsel for the Class, counsel for the Defendants, and the Court by May 13, 2019. See FAQ 13-15.


SUBMIT A CLAIM

If the Court approves the Settlement and it becomes final and effective, and you remain in the Settlement Class, you must register online or through the mail by October 15, 2019 to receive a payment. After registering by October 15, 2019, mailing of personalized Purchase History Forms, which will include totals of Defendants' data of purchases of Dental Supplies and/or Equipment to those who have registered, will occur once the appeal has been resolved.   Only registered Class Members will be mailed a Purchase History Form.  Once you receive your Purchase History Form, if you agree with Defendants' records, you will be asked to sign and submit the Purchase History Form and will not need to provide further information.  If you do not agree with Defendants' records, you will be required to submit your Purchase History Form and supply documentation to support your claimed purchases.  If you require further information or have additional questions, you can submit an email through the 'Contact' section of this website.


•    These rights and options, and the deadlines to exercise them, are explained in the Long Form Notice and the FAQS section.

•    The Court in charge of this case still must decide whether to approve the Settlement. If it does, and after any appeals are resolved, payments will be distributed to those who submit qualifying Claims. Please be patient.


This website is authorized by the Court, supervised by counsel and controlled by the Settlement Administrator approved by the Court. This is the only authorized website for this case.

For more information, please call 844-367-8807.

Documents

Please read for a full explanation of the settlement and your options and all applicable timelines.

Contact

Contact us with any inquiries, comments, and/or requests.

Important Dates

  • Purchase Confirmation Forms Deadline

    Friday, January 31, 2020
    Purchase Confirmation Forms must be completed and returned postmarked no later than January 31, 2020.
  • Claim Registration Deadline.

    Tuesday, October 15, 2019

    You must register online no later than October 15, 2019, or mail your completed registration postcard so that it is postmarked no later than October 15, 2019.

  • Final Approval Hearing Date.

    Monday, June 24, 2019

    The Final Approval/Fairness Hearing previously set for Friday, June 14, 2019 has been reset to Monday, June 24, 2019 at 4:30 PM in Courtroom 8D South. 

  • Exclusion Deadline.

    Monday, May 13, 2019

    You must complete and mail your request for exclusion so that it is postmarked no later than May 13, 2019.

  • Objection Deadline.

    Monday, May 13, 2019

    You must mail your objection(s) and/or notice of intent to appear at the Final Approval Hearing so that it/they are postmarked no later than May 13, 2019.

  • Fees and Expense Deadline.

    Sunday, March 24, 2019

    Counsel submitted their motion for attorneys’ fees, expenses, and service awards for the class representatives on March 22, 2019.  These documents are available in the ‘Documents’ section of this website.

Important Documents

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