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Monday, January 04, 1999
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
'MONUMENTAL VICTORY'
With the state Supreme Court upholding her $4.2 million award, a Las Vegas woman says the decision confirms that silicone breast implants have harmed women.
By Glenn Puit
Review-Journal
A woman maimed by silicone breast implants said a Nevada Supreme Court ruling last week, reaffirming a $4.2 million verdict she won against Dow Chemical, should serve as proof to others that the implants have ruined lives.
"It was a monumental victory," Las Vegan Charlotte Mahlum, 49, said. "The Supreme Court decided that myself and thousands of other women across the country really are sick."
During a Saturday afternoon interview, the North Dakota native and former Elko resident said her ordeal started when she decided to get the silicone implants after a double mastectomy in 1985.
"I didn't do it because I wanted bigger breasts or anything like that," Mahlum said. "I wanted to regain my womanhood. My doctor at the time said the implants were completely safe. Had I known at the time there was even the slightest chance of getting sick, I would have never done it."
By 1990, Mahlum was seriously ill. Although her breasts appeared severely deformed, she did not associate her illness with the implants until she was diagnosed with silicone poisoning by medical experts.
Mahlum said she had the implants removed, but the damage had been done. A plastic surgeon was unable to remove chunks of the silicone that had bonded to her nervous system, and she still has deposits of silicone under each arm.
"Her chest is basically a mangled mess," said Mahlum's attorney, Geoffrey White of Reno. "They never could get all the silicone out."
Mahlum suffers from severe headaches, multiple sclerosis-type symptoms, memory loss and bowel control problems and is forced to walk with a cane. She also thinks the silicone caused brain lesions, nerve damage, blotchy skin and seizures.
"There have been times when I've gone out to dinner with friends and messed my pants because I can't control my bowels," Mahlum said. "Sometimes I drink coffee, and I think it's all in my mouth, but I end up spilling it all down the front of me."
"Just one day I'd like to wake up in the morning and say, 'I feel OK today,' " she said.
Mahlum and her husband sued Michigan-based implant manufacturer Dow Corning and Dow Chemical in 1993.
Dow Chemical owns 50 percent of Dow Corning, once the biggest maker of silicone gel breast implants.
Mahlum opted not to join a settlement offer made by Dow Corning to women across the nation. Instead, she proceeded with the litigation against Dow Corning, but the corporation declared bankruptcy days before her case was scheduled to go to trial.
Her trial against Dow Chemical took place in 1995.
Dow Chemical did not manufacture the silicone breast implants. The corporation conducted toxicology tests on silicon compounds for Dow Corning.
After a four-week trial, Mahlum was awarded $4.2 million in damages and $10 million in punitive damages.
On Thursday, the state's highest court ruled 4-1 that Mahlum was not entitled to the $10 million in punitive damages. In a 3-2 vote, it kept intact the $4.2 million in compensatory damages and ruled a jury was right in finding the silicone implants made her sick.
According to the ruling, Mahlum and her attorney sufficiently proved that the implants were the cause of her illness.
In a news report, Dow Chemical spokesman John Musser said the company disputed the court's finding that Dow Chemical had a duty to ensure the safety of Dow Corning's implants. He said Dow Chemical was asking the court to reconsider its decision.
"We believe the court's finding is unprecedented and inconsistent with previous court rulings across the country," Musser said. "As such, we believe this is a critical policy issue for the Nevada court to consider."
Dow Chemical tested a handful of silicones in the 1940s, '50s and '60s to determine whether they were safe in the workplace, and it determined they were generally low in toxicity.
Musser said Dow Chemical did not test the safety of silicones as used in breast implants or the implants themselves.
Silicone breast implants were not invented until 1962.
"The reality is Dow Chemical did not test or design or manufacture silicone breast implants," Musser said. "We never offered an opinion as to the safety of breast implants or the materials used to construct them."
Mahlum said she was disturbed but not surprised that Dow Chemical was fighting the $4.2 million award. She said the time had come for the company to acknowledge that the silicone implants ruined her life and that Dow Chemical should be held responsible.
"This company and the others like them, they are going to fight us until there is no one left," Mahlum said. "They want us all 6 feet under before everyone realizes what the truth is, that thousands of women are sick."
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Las Vegan Charlotte Mahlum talks about the injuries she suffered after one of her silicone breast implants ruptured. A Nevada Supreme Court ruling last week reaffirmed that Mahlum was owed $4.2 million by Dow Chemical, which tested silicone compounds for toxicity. Dow Corning manufactured the implants.
Photo by Clint Karlsen.
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