
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, February 16, 1995                   TAG: 9502160090
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: HOUSTON                                  LENGTH: Short

IMPLANT SUIT LOST BY DOW

Jurors awarded $5.2 million Wednesday to a woman and her husband for physical problems she claimed were caused by leaking breast implants. It was the first time Dow Chemical Corp. has been found liable in a lawsuit over the product.

The jurors, in their 10th day of deliberations, decided that Dow Chemical was responsible for 20 percent of the damages suffered by retired nurse Gladys Laas and her husband; Dow Corning Corp., which is owned by Dow Chemical and Corning Inc., was found 80 percent liable.

The jury rejected damage claims by another plaintiff, Army Dr. Jennifer Ladner of El Paso. The two women had sought a combined $29 million in damages from the companies.

Laas, a nurse from Bellville, and Ladner claimed that their faulty silicone implants caused a range of ailments, from simple fatigue to nerve damage. Ladner also said the implants caused her lupus.

Although Dow Corning was the main defendant in the trial, experts said the inclusion of Dow Chemical made the case significant.

The lawsuits were separate from a $4.2 billion worldwide settlement of most breast implant cases that was approved by a federal judge in Alabama last year. The judge in that case, Samuel Pointer, dismissed Dow Chemical from the settlement. Pointer has said he will consider the Houston verdict in deciding whether to reverse his ruling.

Plaintiffs said Wednesday's decision means Dow Chemical, which claims annual sales of more than $18 billion, could face millions in future litigation and may be forced to join the global settlement fund.

by CNB