10 Years and still waiting for Dow to pay up

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http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050225/OPINION01/502250356/1035/OPINION

Published February 25, 2005

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

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By REKHA BASUREGISTER 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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www.BreastImplantAwareness.org__________________________________________________