Legal Reforms In Congress May Change Product Liability Laws

Abstract

Dow Corning, the silicones-producing joint venture of Dow Chemical and Corning, has spent millions of dollars defending itself against consumer complaints that its silicone breast implants made women ill. Faced with 19,000 individual suits, and a possible increase in its $2 billion contribution to the $4 billion global breast implant settlement, Dow Corning sought bankruptcy protection last month. Since the late 1970s, Dow Chemical subsidiary Marion Merrell Dow has spent $80 million to defend itself against charges that its antinausea drug for pregnant women, Bendectin, caused birth defects. More recently, DuPont has spent $40 million to defend itself from charges leveled against polytetrafluoroethylene, which the company sells under the Teflon brand name. Medical device manufacturers used Teflon in temporomandibular jaw implants that were intended to alleviate a painful jaw condition. Some recipients charged the deterioration of the implants containing Teflon contributed to further suffering for implant ...