Nevada attorney unhappy with settlement

Tuesday, Nov. 10, 1998 | 11:35 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- An attorney whose law firm represents some 250 Nevada women with silicone gel breast implants says the $3.2 billion settlement announced by Dow Corning on Monday "is truly one of the biggest scams in corporate history."

Geoffrey White of Reno said Monday the settlement means the average payment will be about $30,000, which in most cases is not enough to pay the victim's medical bills.

Dow Corning, in bankruptcy, announced the settlement with the women who have claims against the company for the defective implants. The payments will range from $12,000 to $300,000. The agreement must be approved by the judge and the creditors.

This settlement, White said, would affect about 6,000 women in Nevada who have claims against Dow Corning. His firm alone has about 100 clients with pending bankruptcy claims against Dow Corning and suits against Dow Chemical.

White is attorney for Charlotte Mahlum, who won a $14 million judgment against Dow Chemical, the parent company of Dow Corning. She said at trial her silicone implants caused her chronic fatigue, joint aches and immunological problems.

The case is now before the Nevada Supreme Court on appeal. It's been 18 months since the court heard oral arguments. Mahlum, a former Elko County resident, now lives in Las Vegas, and White said her health is deteriorating due to the medical problems brought on by the breast implants.

White said Dow Corning is a "wealthy $5 billion corporation owned by an even wealthier $20 billion corporation Dow Chemical." He said Dow Corning and other breast implant manufacturers announced a $4.75 billion global settlement in 1993. Women would have received between $20,000 and $2 million each for injuries and illness.

But that fell apart when Dow Corning filed for bankruptcy in May 1995, he said.

White said Dow spent millions of dollars on research to show the breast implant problem was imaginary. And it spent "tens of millions more on bankruptcy attorneys, with forests of motions seeking a delay in having to account to the women its products had injured."

That strategy worked "brilliantly," he said. "Claims that were once worth upwards of $2 million each are now reduced to between $2,000 and, at best, $250,000."