Date: Mon, 13 Nov 2000 16:40:47 EST

Court favors parent companies in breast implant case 

DETROIT (Reuters) - A U.S. judge ruled Monday that women who opposed Dow Corning Corp.'s $3.2 billion silicone breast implant settlement will not be able to sue the company's corporate parents. 

Judge Denise Page Hood of the Eastern District of Michigan in Detroit ruled that only Dow Corning, and not its parent companies Dow Chemical Co or Corning Inc , could be sued by women who opt out of the settlement. 

The decision reversed a ruling by a U.S. bankruptcy court last year that the two companies, each of which own half of Dow Corning, could be sued. 

"We're really delighted that she's reaffirmed the plan of reorganization," said Dow Corning spokesman Michael Jackson. 

Jackson said the decision would allow the payment of the $3.2 billion settlement to begin next year, unless there are appeals to the decision. 

"If there are appeals, it could delay payment into late next year or the following years. Without an appeal, the payment process could begin next year," he said. 

Dow Corning, once the world's largest maker of silicone gel implants, filed for protection from creditors in May 1995 after it was hit with about 19,000 lawsuits from women who alleged the implants caused health problems such as connective tissue disorders. It no longer makes silicone breast implants. 

The company denies the implants cause diseases even though the U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned silicone breast implants in 1992. 

Last year, the Institute of Medicine, the medical arm of the nonprofit National Academy of Sciences, said a careful study of all the evidence indicated that women with silicone breast implants are no more likely to develop chronic diseases than women without the implants. Such studies came after Dow Corning had already begun settlement proceedings. 

15:57 11-13-00