Dow Corning

Dow Corning

Robert Blaine Brumbaugh

Eth 557

September 16, 2013

Sharron Waugh

Dow Corning

The controversy over silicone breast implants reached its peak in 1994 with approximately 12,000 lawsuits filed against Dow Corning. By that time the company had known for at least a decade of the potential health risks caused by the implants. In 1984 the company had to pay out $1.5 million in punitive damages in a major lawsuit. The judge noted that the company's own studies "cast considerable doubt on the safety of the product" ("Dow Corning's Breast Implant Scandal (ethikos archives)", 1994). One of the studies the judge was referring to included "four dogs implanted with miniature silicone breast implants" ("Informed Consent: A Story of Personal Tragedy and Corporate Betrayal . . . Inside the Silicone Breast Implant Crisis," 1996). In this study Dow quoted satisfactory six month results, but ignored their own two year follow up. The two year follow up showed three of the four dogs suffered from severe chronic inflammation, and the fourth one had died.

Even though Dow Corning knew that there were potential health risks because of the implants, they kept telling women that it was perfectly safe. They were more concerned with trying to make sure that they weren't to blame, than they were with the safety of their customers. This was unethical and came back to bite them in the very same butts they were trying to cover. If they had been more forthcoming with the evidence, and made sure that their customers were well informed about the potential risk it wouldn't have cost them so much in the long run.

In terms of the bankruptcy, I think they did what they felt they needed to do in order to stay in business. They had already had to pay out $1.5 million and were responsible for quite a bit more with new lawsuits. The company got bombarded with billions of dollars of claims, and they needed time to regroup. They also took a risk with filing for bankruptcy since it allowed the bankruptcy court to "have the final say in how much Dow Corning pays to compensate claimants." (Feder, 1995) This was not an unethical decision, but a business decision.

Dow Corning's breast implant scandal (Ethikos archives). (1994). Retrieved from http://www.singerpubs.com/ethikos/html/dowcorning.html

Feder, B.J. (1995, May 16). Dow Corning In Bankruptcy Over Lawsuits. New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/1995/05/16/business/dow-corning-in-bankruptcy-over- lawsuits.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm

Informed