Connie Chung

History of Silicone Breast Implant Litigation: 1977-1999

     

The 22-year history of breast implant litigation gives us a most important lesson. More precisely, the scientific study should precede the trade and marketing.   Although scientific data is provided after the fact, it does not stop a moral catastrophe from unfolding. The absence of such data in the 1990s led to a ban of 14 years on silicone gel implants, billions spent two class actions, more than 20,000 individual lawsuits and the temporary collapse of an entire industry. The following attempts to summarize this history: 1977: A lawyer from Houston won the first trial of breast implants for a woman who claimed her implants Cleveland had caused pain and suffering. She received a $ 170,000 settlement from Dow Corning and the case has received little publicity. 1980: Raph Nader's Public Citizen Research Group has sent warnings that silicone breast implants cause cancer. 1984: A California lawyer has won a trial for Maria Stern said her autoimmune disease was caused by her breast implants. evidence presented by Dow Corning's own internal documents they had been aware of the high rate of rupture and gel bleed with the second generation implants. "Expert witnesses" theorized link silicone-immune for the first time. The San Francisco Court awarded 211,000 dollars in compensatory damages and $ 1.5 million in punitive damages. 1990: A television program "Face to Face with Connie Chung "was released, discussing the dangers of silicone gel-filled breast implants. Public concern mounted, and a congressional hearing was held on the safety of breast implants.   July 1991: Dow Corning has published 329 studies to the FDA. In a separate trial against Baxter / Heyer-Schulte, an Alabama court awarded one million $ 5.4 settlement to Brenda Toole, who showed that the preliminary symptoms of the disease systemic autoimmune, but silicone had lymph nodes. "Expert Witnesses", said it was therefore an increased risk of developing autoimmune disease. December 1991: Attorney Dan Bolton, who won the case for Maria Stern won another case to Mariann Hopkins, who has said his mixed connective tissue disease was linked to its rupture silicone breast implants. February 1992: A class action was filed in Cincinnati by Stan Chesley. The hope was to compensate women at a rate faster than filing individual lawsuits. The FDA panel recommended that further use of silicone implants is limited only to reconstruction. The committee also concluded that no causal link has been established between autoimmune diseases and silicone breast implants. March 1992: Dow Corning, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Bioplasty all left the breast implant . Dow Corning established a fund for research on breast implant safety. April 1992: The FDA banned the use of silicone breast implants outside of approved research study by the FDA. The only women allowed to receive implants were those during breast reconstruction. All implant recipients must become part of a scientific protocol. March 1994: A class action has been developed by manufacturers including Dow Corning, Baxter, Bristol-Meyers Squibb / MEC, and 3M. At 3.4 billion dollars that the trial was then the largest class action in history. Women would be allowed to withdraw from the settlement if they wish. Companies may also "opt out" if too few women register claims. June 1994: Mayo Clinic epidemiologists published a report in.