In re Dental Supplies Antitrust Litigation Frequently Asked Questions

The Notice provides important information about a proposed Settlement of a class action lawsuit known as In re Dental Supplies Antitrust Litigation, Case No 16-cv-00696, and about your options for participating in it before the Court decides whether to give final approval to the Settlement. The Notice explains the lawsuit, the Settlement, and your legal rights.

The Honorable Brian M. Cogan of the United States District Court, Eastern District of New York, is the judge overseeing this case. The persons or entities who sued are called the “Plaintiffs” or “Named Plaintiffs.” The persons, or entities that are being sued are called the “Defendants.”  

Every person or entity that meets the Settlement Class definition is a member of the Settlement Class, except for those who choose to exclude themselves from the Class.

There are two groups of potential Settlement Class Members covered by the Settlement:  Group 1 consists of Class Members who have at least some Dental Supplies purchases; Group 2 consists of Class Members whose purchases during the Class Period include only Dental Equipment. If you purchased either Dental Supplies or Dental Equipment from any of the Defendants or Burkhart during the Class Period, you are a Settlement Class Member and can file a claim.

The Defendants have agreed to pay $80 million to resolve this case (the “Settlement Fund”). Court-approved claims administration fees, Class Representative Incentive Awards, and attorneys’ fees and expenses will be deducted from the Settlement Fund, and thus you have no obligation to pay them directly. The remaining funds (“Net Settlement Fund”) shall be distributed as cash payments to Settlement Class Members who submit valid Claims (i.e., Claimants) according to the following process (“Plan of Allocation”). First, the Net Settlement Fund will be divided into two tranches: Group 1 and Group 2. Group 1 consists of Claimants who have made at least some purchases of Dental Supplies during the Class Period (i.e., August 31, 2008, until March 31, 2016); Group 2 consists of Claimants whose purchases during the Class Period include only dental equipment. Because most Class Members purchased some Dental Supplies, the Net Settlement Fund will be allocated as follows: 99.25% to Group 1; 0.75% to Group 2. Payments will be made to Claimants on a pro rata basis in each Group based on Claimants’ verified purchases in dollars of Dental Supplies (in Group 1) and Dental Equipment (in Group 2) during the Class Period. For more information on the Plan of Allocation, please consult the Documents section of this website.

1)  A heading that includes the case name and case number—In re Dental Supplies Antitrust Litigation, Case No. 16-cv-00696;

2)   Your name, the name and address of the entity that is the Class Member, and if represented by counsel, the name, address, and telephone number of your counsel;

3)    A signed statement stating, under penalty of perjury, that you purchased Dental Products directly from Schein, Patterson, Benco, or Burkhart at some point during the Class Period, i.e., from August 31, 2008 to March 31, 2016, attaching proof of purchase;

4)    A statement detailing all your objections to the Settlement with specificity and including your legal and factual basis for each objection;

5)    A statement of whether you intend to appear at the Fairness Hearing, either with or without counsel, and if with counsel, the name of your counsel who will attend;

If you wish to object, you must file your objection with the Court and mail your objection to each of the following addresses, and your objection must be postmarked by May 13, 2019.

To exclude yourself from the Settlement Class, you must send a written request for exclusion by mail to the Settlement Administrator: In re Dental Supplies, c/o Settlement Administrator; P.O. Box 510; Philadelphia, PA 19105-0510. 

Your request for exclusion must include (i) your business name and all historical business names you’ve operated under, your current business address and all historical business addresses you’ve operated under, and the signature of a principal of your business with authority to make legal decisions; (ii) a statement that you want to be excluded; and (iii) proof that you purchased Dental Products directly from Schein, Patterson, Benco, or Burkhart at some point during the Class Period, i.e., from August 31, 2008 to March 31, 2016 (e.g., an invoice) and thus are a Settlement Class Member.  

You must mail your exclusion request by First Class U.S. mail, postage paid, postmarked no later than May 13, 2019. You cannot exclude yourself by phone or email; your request must be in writing, signed, and sent by mail. If you exclude yourself, you cannot file a claim and will not receive a payment from the Settlement.

Objecting is simply telling the Court that you do not like something about the Settlement. You can object to the Settlement only if you do not exclude yourself from the Settlement Class. If you exclude yourself, you cannot object because the Settlement no longer affects your rights. Excluding yourself from the Class is telling the Court that you don’t want to be part of the Class and you will not be able to receive any benefits from this Settlement; however, this is the only way you will retain your rights to sue the Defendants on your own based on the claims asserted in this lawsuit.

Eric L. Cramer

Berger Montague PC

1818 Market Street

Suite 3600 

Philadelphia, PA 19103

Brent W. Landau

Gary L. Smith, Jr.  

Hausfeld LLP

325 Chestnut Street

Suite 900 

Philadelphia, PA 19106

Richard A. Koffman

Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC

1100 New York Ave., NW

Suite 500

Washington, DC 20005

William C. Carmody

Susman Godfrey LLP

1301 Avenue of the Americas

New York, NY 100109

These law firms have also been appointed by the Court as Class Counsel. If you have questions concerning the Notice or the lawsuit, you may contact one of the law firms listed above.

The Court will hold a hearing (“Fairness Hearing”) to decide whether to approve the Settlement as fair, reasonable, and adequate as well as consider Class Counsel’s requests for fees and expenses as well as service awards for the Named Plaintiffs to compensate them for their efforts on behalf of the Class.

The Court has scheduled a Fairness Hearing on June 14, 2019 at 12:00p.m. before Judge Cogan at the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, at the U.S. Courthouse, 225 Cadman Plaza E, Brooklyn, NY, 11201, Courtroom 8D South. The hearing may be moved to a different date or time without additional notice, so it is a good idea to check this website for updates. At this hearing, the Court will consider whether the Settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate and should be approved. The Court will also consider the requests by Class Counsel for attorneys’ fees and expenses and for Service Awards to the Named Plaintiffs. If there are objections, the Court will consider them at that time. It is unknown how long these decisions will take.

The Notice summarizes the lawsuit, the terms of the Settlement, and your rights and options in connection with that Settlement. There are more details regarding the Plaintiffs’ claims and the Defendants’ defenses in the various documents filed with the Court. This Notice, together with the Complaint, the Settlement Agreement, the Plan of Allocation, and other documents relating to the Settlement are or will eventually be posted in the Documents section of this website. Please review the Settlement Agreement for the complete details of the Settlement including the Release.

You may also obtain copies of documents filed in the lawsuit through the Federal Court’s Public Access to Court Electronic Records (“PACER”) system with registration and payment of the required fee, or by contacting Settlement Class Counsel.

You may contact the Settlement Administrator and also Class Counsel (identified above). To do so, visit the Contact section of this website, or you may call 1-844-367-8807 for more information about this lawsuit.