Dow Concealed Dangers, Jury Says Landmark Case Moves To More Difficult Penalty Phase

The jury in the nation’s first class-action trial over silicone breast implants decided Monday that Dow Chemical Co. hid information from women and their doctors about the harm the implants might cause.

The verdict was a first step in a complicated legal process aimed at winning damages. Jurors must next decide if the women’s implants caused their illnesses and what damages - if any - they are owed.

“Mighty Dow has fallen again!” said plaintiff lawyer John O’Quinn as he left the courtroom and raised a clenched fist to some of the women in the case. They returned the gesture and then hugged him.

The action, filed on behalf of approximately 1,800 women, claimed silicone seeped out through the implants’ flexible walls or popped out of ruptured implants, causing immune system-related illnesses that brought on aches, pains and fatigue.

Dow contends that the ruling only applies to the eight women who originally filed the lawsuit because federal courts in Detroit have moved the rest of the cases there.

The company is asking the Detroit court to rule on whether the verdict applies to eight or 1,800 women.

After the verdict was read, women who had sat through most of the trial, including some who are not plaintiffs, hugged each other and wept in the hall.

“I’m not crazy anymore. I have closure now. They’ve been proven wrong. That’s the important thing,” said Peggy Musmeci of Metairie, La. “The doctors we went to - they think we are nuts. This proves we’re not nuts.”

The women sought unspecified damages - the only kind allowed in Louisiana civil cases - from the Midland, Mich., company.

Dow Chemical lawyer Lorna Propes said under state law, Dow cannot appeal until after the second phase of the trial. Dow attorneys have not decided whether to ask higher courts to determine if the verdict was legal, using a procedure available under Louisiana law.

Throughout the five-month trial, Dow Chemical contended that it never made nor tested the implants. But Dow Chemical is a part owner of Dow Corning, a leading manufacturer of the implants for many years. A deluge of lawsuits against Dow Corning prompted it to file for protection in bankruptcy court.