A U.S. breast implant manufacturer hopes to honor its warranties to patients, despite voluntarily filing for bankruptcy protection on Monday, court filings suggest.
Patients and advocates voiced concerns early Tuesday, many believing Sientra was likely to follow in the footsteps of an implant manufacturer that last year liquidated its assets and announced its warranties were suddenly null and void.
Sientra intends to do things differently.
It will honor patients’ breast implant warranties, subject to the approval by U.S. bankruptcy court of a motion it filed on Monday.
A Sientra spokesperson confirmed the company’s ambition in an email: “Sientra’s ability to honor the 20-year warranty is subject to bankruptcy court approval. Subject to bankruptcy court approval, Sientra will continue to honor submitted warranty claims.”
“Subject to bankruptcy court approval, Sientra will continue to honor submitted warranty claims.”
Sientra spokesperson to Surgical Times, Feb. 13, 2024
The company was unable to immediately answer how many women with Sientra breast implants might be affected by a change in warranty, if one were to occur, but its Motion aims to honor warranties regardless.
Sientra offered women who received its silicone gel breast implants a 10-year or 20-year warranty.
Its 20-year “Platinum20” warranty program covered implants used on or after May 1, 2018.
The company considered “Platinum20” the best warranty program in the industry, advertising it as “The most comprehensive protection, the longest length of coverage, the most financial assistance, [and] the least amount of warranty restrictions in the industry.”
“Maintaining goodwill and sustaining Customer relationships through the Customer Programs is critical to [Sientra’s] ongoing operations and the preservation and maximization of the value of the Debtors’ assets. Failure to continue the Customer Programs and satisfy certain prepetition obligations in connection therewith would be a complete change to the Debtors’ business model and Customer sales practices and would risk alienating the Debtors’ most loyal and valuable current Customers.
Sientra, Inc., CEO Ron Menezes, Feb. 12, 2024
None of the medical aesthetic device manufacturer’s products have been recalled, but on Monday, it announced it had voluntarily filed for bankruptcy protection, citing changes in consumer spending habits, macroeconomic factors, and a “sharp retraction” in its breast augmentation business.
Motions filed along with that voluntary petition seek court approval by the company on honoring its “obligations to customers, and to continue certain customer programs,” specifically citing its patient warranty programs.
The company says it has typically paid out about $250,000 per quarter to honor its warranties to patients.
Patients who opt to use their warranty have historically been granted replacement breast implants and a cash payment of between $2,000 and $7,500 to cover “unreimbursed medical expenses,” it says.
The dollar amount offered depends upon circumstance and is granted after waivers are signed, releasing the company from liability, court filings say.
“By this Motion, the Debtors request authorization to honor all prepetition obligations associated with the Warranty Programs.”
Sientra, Inc., filing with U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Feb. 12, 2024
The company has also filed a motion to honor its return and refund policy, benefiting surgeons who may have unused breast implants on hand which they wish to return. (None of the company’s devices, including Sientra breast implants, have been recalled.) It allocates $600,000 for this program.