NATION/WORLD
Tuesday, October 31, 1995
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
7A
Dow Chemical loses lawsuit
Verdict is first against breast implant maker
The Associated Press
RENO, Nev. — Yesterday a jury ordered Dow Chemical Co. to pay $10 million in punitive damages to a woman who said her silicone breast implants leaked and made her sick.
The jury on Saturday had awarded Charlotte Mahum $3.9 million in compensatory damages after finding the company liable for faulty silicone implants. It deliberated only 45 minutes yesterday before awarding the additional punitive damages.
The Washoe District Court jury's verdict marked the first implant verdict solely against Dow Chemical, which for years was the leading manufacturer of silicone implants.
"Because of what they did, thousands of women across the country
are sick," said Frederic Ellis, one of Mahum's attorneys.
Dow Chemical representative John Musser said this was only the second time his company had been on trial for an implant lawsuit.
Earlier this year, a Houston jury awarded a woman $5.2 million in a similar lawsuit, holding Dow Chemical 20 percent liable and Dow Coming 80 percent liable. A judge later overruled the verdict against Dow Chemical.
Marsha J. Rabiteau, a Dow Chemical lawyer, said her company would ask Judge Connie Steinheimer to set aside the latest verdict and would appeal if the judge turned the request down.
During the four-week trial, Dow Chemical lawyers argued that the implants were made by Dow Corning, and Dow Chemical couldn't be held responsible.
Dow Chemical, based in Midland,
Mich, and Corning Inc. of Corning,
N.Y., are co-owners of Dow Corning,
Dow Corning was dropped from the Reno lawsuit after it filed for bankruptcy protection in May, stating it lacked the resources to fight claims by thousands of women who blame implants for health problems.
Mahlam, 46, who lives in Elko,
sued Dow Chemical and Dow Coming in 1993, alleging that her implant caused skin disorders, muscle pain,
tremors, incontinence and other problems. The jury awarded $200,000 in compensatory damages to her husband, Marvin.
Scientists are debating whether silicone implants cause sickness. Last week, the American College of Rheumatology issued a statement that there was no compelling evidence that the implants put women at risk. Others supporting women's lawsuits against implant makers dispute that.
Russian political race reeling
Two parties banned and Yeltsin is still ill
The Associated Press
MOSCOW — Russian politics were in disarray yesterday with the parliamentary election campaign turned upside-down by a ban on two prominent parties and Boris Yeltsin cut off from top advisers for the fifth consecutive day.
Yeltsin, hospitalized for heart trouble since Thursday, has not turned over power to Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin. Doctors continued to forbid meetings with top government officials, the Kremlin said.
In Yeltsin's absence, the election campaign has gone haywire. Democratic parties were threatening to boycott the Dec. 17 vote to protest the barring of a top reform party from the ballot.
The leader of the reformist
Yabloko bloc, Grigory Yavlinsky, promised yesterday to fight the election commission's decision, which was based on a technicality.
With Communist, nationalist and other hard-line forces opposed to Yeltsin expected to do well in December's vote, reformers say some presidential aides have a motive to try and derail the balloting.
Yeltsin is not associated with any party but has loosely backed the centrists and moderate reformers. Yabloko is the only such bloc with a sure chance of winning enough votes to get seats in parliament.
Even though Yavlinsky could run as an independent, the exclusion of his party would undermine the political base he is building for a presidential race in June.
Yeltsin has not announced a reelection bid but has been acting like a candidate and is widely expected to be a contender — if he is healthy enough.
There were indications the election commission's ruling on Yabloko might be overturned. The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that Democratic Russia, another group barred from the elections, should be registered.
Other democratic parties, including Yegor Gaidar's Russia's Choice, have threatened to withdraw from elections if the Russian Supreme Court allows the ban on Yabloko.
Chernomyrdin drin said Yabloko's exclusion was an "ill-considered decision seriously damaging the whole election campaign and democracy in Russia."
There was no such support, however, for Yeltsin foe Alexander Rutskoi, whose Dezhrazva movement also was banned. The former vice president accused the commission of trying to turn the elections into a political show and to rig the results. The 48-year-old former air force general also has presidential ambitions.
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Student Panels Debate
Student Panels Debate The Native American Mascot Issue: Respect or Racism?
Respect or Racism?
November 1, 1995
8:15 - 10:00 p.m.
At
Panel 1: Mascots not meant to offend!
Jenny Carlson, Sports Editor, The University Daily Kansan,
Panel 2: Mascots are offensive!
John Rainwater, Social Welfare/Law, Yolanda Riddle, Social Welfare,
Terry Brocke, Environmental Science, Elise Talley, Education
MODERATOR: Michael Yellow Bird, Assistant Professor,
KU School of Social welfare
Sponsored by: KU Indigenous Social Workers Association and KU Native American Student Association
(NASA) and the KU Council
Sponsored by: KU Indigenous Social Workers Association and KU Native American Student Association (NASA), and the KU Coalition
HenryT's Bar&Grill
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6TH & KASOLD
749-2999
HASKELL-KU EXCHANGE PROGRAM
Beginning Spring Semester 1996, sixteen KU undergraduate students will be allowed to enroll in one course each at Haskell Indian Nations University, under the terms of the Haskell-KU Exchange Program. Available
courses are: History of North American Indian Tribes; Contemporarv
courses are: History of North American Indian Tribes; Contemporary Issues of the American Indian; Indian Law & Legislation; Tribal/Federal Government Relations; Tribal Resources & Economic Development. KU students will enroll for these courses under KU line numbers, receive KU credit, and pay regular KU tuition.
Interested KU students should come to the Office of Academic Affairs,
132 Strong Hall, to find out more about the Haskell courses and to obtain a petition to enroll The deadline for turning in the petitions is November 8.