The census, registry, and filing deadlines that matter are the court registration cutoff, the second-tier fund application date, and the separate administrative-claim filing date. In a point-based matrix settlement, missing any one can bar payment even when medical points are high. A point-based matrix scores each claim on medical and exposure facts, then converts total points into payout tiers. CloudLex explains that grids often weigh diagnosis severity, hospitalization, exposure history, age and economic loss in its mass-tort intake guide.
Official resources:
- Register through Uscourts’s official page — Use this page to review requirements and register directly.
- Check eligibility on Justice’s official study page — Use this page to check the study’s participation requirements.
Table of Contents
- How does the point grid set your payout tier?
- Which registration cutoff controls entry to the matrix?
- What second deadline applies after you register?
- Which filing deadline can end a Camp Lejeune claim?
- What does an MDL census or registry protect?
How does the point grid set your payout tier?
The grid rewards stronger proof with more points. Typical inputs include diagnosis level, hospital care, length of exposure, age and lost income. Points then place you in a tier.
Higher tiers pay more, while low-documentation claims pay less or nothing. The structure is the same across products, chemicals and military exposures. Camp Lejeune shows the pattern. The Justice Department says timely filers can elect a grid paying $100,000 to $450,000 by evidence tier and exposure length, plus $100,000 for qualifying death, up to $550,000, in its elective-option announcement.
Which registration cutoff controls entry to the matrix?
Registration decides who gets scored. 3M's $6.0 billion Combat Arms Earplug deal paid from 2023 to 2029 through registration, point-based Deferred Payment Program awards and a separate Extraordinary Injury Fund. The entry gate closed March 25, 2024.
Bloomberg Law reported that 3M announced March 26, 2024 that over 249,000 of 293,000 claimants had registered, above 99% and past the 98% threshold, in its participation report. Unregistered claimants did not move forward. Late registration was not a scoring issue. It was an eligibility failure.
What second deadline applies after you register?
Registered claimants often face a second matrix deadline for severe-injury funds. In the 3M deal, the settlement administrator set Extraordinary Injury Fund applications due April 25, 2024 for MSA III and Wave claimants and July 26, 2024 for MSA I claimants under MDL Case Management Order 89.
That fund was separate from base points. A high base score did not substitute for the extra application.
- Check whether your settlement phase or wave changes the due date.
- Gather hospital, audiology, neurology or other severe-impairment records early.
- File the fund form even if your base award is still pending.
Which filing deadline can end a Camp Lejeune claim?
Camp Lejeune Justice Act administrative claims had to reach the Navy by Aug. 10, 2024, two years after enactment. The Navy says it is no longer accepting new claims and cannot grant exceptions, stated in its filing-deadline reminder.
Only timely filers can pursue the elective grid or litigation. A later diagnosis does not reopen the administrative window. Act on the Navy receipt, not the matrix estimate. Keep the stamped claim, tracking number and mailing proof with medical records.
What does an MDL census or registry protect?
An MDL census or registry is a short standardized court questionnaire. The American Bar Association explains that courts use it to collect filed and unfiled inventories, vet cases, appoint leadership and test settlement feasibility, often with tolling for unfiled registrants. In Zantac MDL 2924, Pretrial Order 15 let lawyers file a Census Plus Form to register unfiled clients and toll limitations until Daubert rulings.
Later orders confirm registrants received tolling but still had to prove timeliness. A census is not a lawsuit. It preserves a place in the vetting process only if you meet its form, proof and renewal rules. Miss the plaintiff-fact-sheet or census deadline and the court can dismiss the claim regardless of matrix value, because MDL transfer and census enrollment do not pause state statutes of limitations, typically one to four years.