Re: 10 Years and still waiting for Dow to pay up

[Guest guest]

I am trying to find out if I can qualify for this

settlement, but I doubt I am going to get anything out

of it. It will never be enough to cover what hell I

have been through.

--- Tricia Trish <glory2glory1401@...> wrote:

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http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050225/OPINION01/50225\

0356/1035/OPINION

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> Published February 25, 2005

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> Basu: Ten years and still waiting for Dow to pay up

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> mailto:rbasu@...

>

> By REKHA BASU

> REGISTER COLUMNIST

>

> of , Ia., never set out to be an

> activist. She never imagined standing up to a

> mammoth multinational conglomerate and demanding

> redress for the damage it allegedly caused more than

> a million women.

>

> But then, she never anticipated staring into the

> mirror and seeing cavities in her chest where

> breasts used to be.

>

> Until her implants ruptured and made her sick, and

> the ordeal kept being compounded, had faith in

> the system and believed what her doctors said.

>

> Rude awakenings.

>

> Today, at 50, has spent one-fifth of her life

> waiting for justice to come. And the once shy

> northwest Iowan has learned not to go quietly.

>

> It was 19 years ago that had her breasts

> removed on a doctor's advice. She had problems with

> cystic fibrosis and had had five tumors removed from

> her left breast. Though the tumors were benign, they

> had to be biopsied each time, and they were starting

> to turn up in her right one.

>

> The doctor thought it best to remove her breast

> tissue and replace it with silicone implants. He

> said it was safe and would last her whole life.

>

> Eight years later, the right implant was ruptured

> and leaking. It was hardening " almost as if I had a

> softball in my chest, " and had migrated down toward

> her shoulder. There was an uncomfortable itch deep

> in her chest cavity.

>

> Her family doctor told her everything was fine. She

> went to a Sioux Falls, S.D., doctor who also left

> the implants alone. Finally, in 1995, a Des Moines

> doctor removed them, saying she had neuro-connective

> disease and should expect life-long auto-immune

> disease.

>

> After that there was a hematoma, and

> hard-to-pronounce diagnoses: severe lymphandopathy,

> scleroderma, Sjorgen's Disease. She couldn't eat,

> and lost 22 pounds. She's had four surgeries, two of

> them last year.

>

> Though it wasn't Dow Corning but Bristol Myers

> Squibb that made her implants, the silicone came

> from Dow. The same year 's implants came out,

> Dow became the target of a class-action lawsuit

> brought by 1.2 million women worldwide. joined

> it. Originally there were 462,000 registered U.S.

> claimants, she says.

>

> Within months, Dow Corning filed for bankruptcy.

>

> A jury later ruled that Dow Chemical Co., a

> half-owner of Dow Corning, hid information from

> women and their doctors about the harm the implants

> might cause.

>

> also joined a class-action suit against

> Bristol-Myers, settling with them for $35,000 in

> 1999; $15,000 went to her attorneys. But it's been

> 10 years since her implants were removed and she has

> yet to see a dime from Dow.

>

> When Dow Corning emerged from bankruptcy last year,

> claimants had to choose whether to seek settlement

> as a group or individually. The company agreed to

> pay $3.2 billion to settle the claims of 170,000

> women. So far, only about 10 percent of claimants

> have been paid. 's claim falls into a

> low-priority Class 7, which isn't even being

> reviewed yet. She's been told it could be another

> three years before she sees anything.

>

> Since 1995, has made 32 trips to Des Moines, a

> five-hour drive, to see her doctor because of

> complications. Last year alone, she says, she

> incurred more than $22,000 in medical bills. Her

> husband of 30 years, a painter, had to take a second

> job to pay them. is an in-home day-care

> provider.

>

> She has written to elected officials, even the

> president. The federal Justice Department

> essentially told her to take her place in line. The

> federal government also had a claim against Dow for

> what it had spent through Medicare on sick implant

> patients.

>

> says she was once naive. " I looked at life

> through this big protective bubble. "

> Now she speaks out, hoping to educate others.

>

> " I tell people, 'Look real close at my chest.

> There's two huge dollar signs on my chest that I've

> carried about for 10 years. It's all about greed.' "

>

> Silicone implants are off the market, though

> was horrified to learn in 2003 that FDA advisers had

> recommended allowing them back in response to an

> application from Inamed Corp. She wrote to members

> of Congress opposing the move, which the FDA

> ultimately rejected

>

> But saline implants are still being sold.

>

> Parents are even getting implants for teenage

> daughters as high school graduation presents. In

> 2003, 3,841 females 18 or younger had breast

> augmentation, according to the American Society of

> Plastic Surgeons, even though it's not recommended

> under age 18.

>

> The FDA warns that no implants last a lifetime, and

> they usually rupture and need removal.

>

> urges women to resist the temptation to

> enhance their breasts; " Believe in yourself. Just be

> proud of who you are. "

>

> But even as she says it, knows how hard

> that can be. It's only recently that she can stand

> in front of a mirror and look at what she describes

> as the " two huge holes in my chest " and feel at

> peace with herself.

>

> She lost her breasts, but she gained a voice and a

> crusader's zeal for justice. It's not an even

> equation, but it might help open someone else's

> eyes.

>

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>

> ~~~~~~~~~~~~

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> www.BreastImplantAwareness.org

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