Breast implant litigation
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
State supreme court in California upholds the dismissal of 1,800 silicone breast implant suits against Dow Chemical, affirming prior decisions in 1994 by a San Diego trial court and in 1996 by a California appeals court. The 6-1 vote rules that Dow Chemical "owed no duty to breast implant plaintiffs" because physical harm was "unforeseeable" in the company's silicone toxicology research for Dow Corning. Separately, a federal court judge in Michigan accepts a revised $3.2 bil. liability settlement agreement between Dow Corning and plaintiffs involved in breast implant liabilities class action lawsuit against the company (see related story p. 11)