ABLEnews Extra "Junk Science" Or Justice? [The following file may be freq'd as MAL50110.* from 1:109/909 and other BBS's that carry the ABLEFiles Distribution Network (AFDN) and--for about one week-- ftp'd from FTP.FIDONET.ORG on the Internet. Please allow a few days for processing.] A San Diego jury, after hearing six weeks of testimony, is deciding whether ruptured silicone breast implants caused a woman's health problems as the U.S. Supreme Court yesterday left intact a $7.34 million award to another California woman in a similar case. The attorney for both women, Charles Louderback, would not comment on whether the high court's refusal to hear the appeal in Mariann Hopkins' lawsuit against Michigan-based Dow Corning Corp. has any impact on the San Diego case. "I'm gratified the U.S. Supreme Court validated the Hopkins' decision, but I don't feel comfortable commenting on the Hall case with the jury deliberating," Louderback said. Visalia resident Jacqueline Hall, 45, had silicone breast implants inserted in 1976, but had them removed in 1990 after learning from a television news program of potential health problems caused by ruptured implants. She claims that leaking silicone gel caused chronic fatigue, memory loss and other symptoms. She is suing Baxter Health Care Corp., which assumed liability for Heyer-Schulte implants after it bought American Hospital Supply, Heyer-Schulte Corp.'s parent company. Baxter, while a manufacturer of other health products, has never produced silicone breast implants. Hall's is the first case in California to go to trial since the 1991 Hopkins decision, which focused national attention on the potential of silicone breast implant-related diseases. An estimated 1 million to 2 million U.S. women have had silicone breast implants. Hundreds filed lawsuits and a federal judge approved a $4.7 billion settlement with eight manufacturing companies, including Dow Corning and Baxter Health Care. The women could choose to opt out of the settlement and have their cases heard in court, as Hall did. The former Escondido resident's lawsuit is the first in some 200 to 300 California cases that are expected to be decided at trial. Hopkins, in her landmark lawsuit, said she contracted Mixed Connective Tissue Disease, or MCTD, an autoimmune disease, after her silicone breast implants ruptured. "What made the Hopkins verdict gain national attention was that we found through discovery that Dow Corning hadn't done the (proper) testing," Louderback said. "It was a basic corporate case about fraud. Dow's claims that the implants were safe, that they were tested and that they would last a lifetime were completely false. We were able to show that they actually knew about these facts." Hopkins' lawsuit had accused Dow Corning of rushing development of the implants, failing to adequately test for potential dangers to health and ignoring information on adverse health consequences linked to them. Louderback said he obtained confidential memos from Dow Corning, which manufactured Hopkins' implants, that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was not able to get because it does not have subpeona power. "The FDA said the burden is not on the consumer that these are safe; the burden is on you (the company)," Louderback said of the Dec. 13, 1991, Hopkins verdict. The Supreme Court, without comment yesterday, rejected Dow Corning's appeal. The company had contended that expert-witness testimony heard at the 1991 trial was not based on accepted scientific principles, and that the federal jury's award of $6.5 million in punitive damages--aimed at punishing Dow Corning--was excessive. Dow Corning said the award "triggered the explosion of breast-implant litigation...state and federal courts have been inundated with cases...against all manufacturers of mammary prostheses in which plaintiffs claim that whatever injury, disease or illness from which they suffer is causally related to their implants." Hopkins, a college secretary from Sebastopol, CA, had both her breasts removed in 1976 to thwart a potentially life-threatening ailment. She had the silicone-gel devices implanted during reconstructive surgery. The following year, Hopkins had both implants replaced with others also made by Dow Corning. In 1979, she was found to be suffering from a connective tissue disease. Among its symptoms are muscle aches and pains, extreme fatigue, weakness and arthritis. It wasn't until 1986 that Hopkins' doctor discovered that her implants had ruptured and that silicone gel had escaped. The next year, Hopkins was told of a possible connection between the ruptured implants and her poor health. In 1989, Hopkins sued Dow Corning, based in Midland, MI, and owned by Dow Chemical Corp. and Corning Inc. The $7.34 million award she won in 1991 was at the time the largest ever in a breast implant lawsuit. An Alabama jury previously had returned a $5.4 million award against another implant manufacturer. The appeal acted on yesterday said the judge who presided over the 1991 trial failed to prevent dubious testimony by three expert witnesses used by Hopkins' lawyers. Trial judges "must meticulously perform their gatekeeping role to prevent "junk science' from being introduced into evidence," the appeal said. In upholding Hopkins' victory last August, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the expert testimony was based on adequately reliable scientific techniques. [Court Upholds Breast Implant Award, Susan Gembrowski, San Diego Daily Transcript, January 10, 1995] A Fidonet-backbone echo featuring disability/medical news and information, ABLEnews is carried by more than 460 BBSs in the US, Canada, Australia, Great Britain, Greece, New Zealand, and Sweden. The echo, available from Fidonet and Planet Connect, is gated to the ADANet, FamilyNet, and World Message Exchange networks. ABLEnews text files--including our digests Of Note and MedNotes (suitable for bulletin use) are disseminated via the ABLEfile Distribution Network, available from the filebone, Planet Connect, and ftp. fidonet.org ...For further information, contact CURE, 812 Stephen St., Berkeley Springs, WV 25411. 304-258-LIFE/258-5433 (earl.appleby@deafworld.com)