The law firm behind a breast augmentation surgery class-action lawsuit will walk away with $8.9 million, as the seven-year legal dispute wraps up.
A settlement of $25 million was agreed in April in the suit, which was launched against The Cosmetic Institute in 2017 by law firm Turner Freeman.
It stemmed from a large number of women claiming they suffered complications after undergoing so-called "One Size Fits All" surgeries at clinics run by The Cosmetic Institute in NSW and Queensland.
Prior to the settlement being reached, the case had been heading for a lengthy civil hearing in the NSW Supreme Court, with the court instead ordering last week that proceedings be dismissed.
Of the agreed payout, lawyers will receive roughly a third, while the suit's 12 main plaintiff's will split $2.8 million, with the remaining $13.3 million expected to shared by an unknown number of other women who also claim to have been affected by the surgeries.
The lawsuit claimed the complications resulted from the negligence of surgeons and staff, and included heart problems, punctured lungs and seizures.
Damages had been sought for physiological and psychiatric treatment, as well as added costs of further revision surgery, medical monitoring and other losses.
The class action argued patients were not told of the risk of harm from the firm's "One Size Fits All" procedure and staff at the clinic were negligent and breached their duty of care and consumer guarantees.
There have been no admissions of liability made by the liquidated medical firm or its former employees under the proposed settlement.
The Cosmetic Institute and its subsidiaries are now under liquidation and may not need to pay anything.
The institute's director and lead plastic surgeon, Eddy Dona, was among those being pursued by the class action.
He is alleged to have designed the procedure and trained 11 employees, who were also sued in the lawsuit.
Three insurers for The Cosmetic Institute were also included in the class action.
