LV woman: $4 million won't replace health

CARSON CITY -- Charlotte Mahlum says the $4million breast implant judgment she won in the Nevada Supreme Court will "never replace the healthy life they took from me."

Mahlum has pains that "feel like volcanoes in my head," she said. She suffers from incontinence and is plagued with tingling feelings in her hands and legs. She walks with a cane and sometimes shakes so violently that she falls down. And she loses track of what she is saying at times.

The Supreme Court Thursday, in a split decision, ruled Mahlum was entitled to $4 million from Dow Chemical Co., but it wiped out a $10 million punitive judgment award against the company. The court said Dow was not involved in fraud but was negligent.

The judgment has grown to $5 million with interest in the 20 months it took the court to decide the case after hearing oral arguments.

Mahlum, who was found to be 100 percent disabled by the federal government in 1995, has been living on $412 a month, relying on help from her family and other women who have suffered from ruptured silicone breast implants to meet her living expenses and other medical bills.

Part of the judgment, she said, will pay for medicines doctors prescribe that she can't afford. Other amounts will be used to help women suffering from the same illnesses. Her family will be repaid for its help.

"My life won't change a lot, but I'm sure glad I can help everyone else," she said.

The 49-year-old woman said she would gladly trade the money for a healthy life.

Mahlum had a double mastectomy and decided to have breast implants in 1985. "They told me that when I was 80 years old, I would have the breasts of a 20-year-old. I would never have to wear a bra again."

It didn't turn out that way. Her health started to deteriorate, and in July 1993 one of the implants ruptured, requiring the surgical removal of both. But about 10 percent of the silicone material was embedded in muscle, tissue and blood vessels and could not be removed.

The illnesses that followed led to the divorce from her of husband of 28 years, Marvin. He will receive $200,000 plus interest from the Supreme Court ruling.

Mahlum says she hopes the court ruling convinces the public that women who suffered from the silicone that leaked into bodies was really harmful and is evidence that "we are not crazy."

The ruling, said Mahlum's lawyer Geoffrey White of Reno, will help the cases of other women who have sued over silicone breast implants. White has trials in May and July in Reno against Dow Chemical.

White and two other law firms will get one-third of the judgment under the fee arrangement.

Mahlum still has a suit against Dow Corning, which distributed the implants, said White. Dow Corning, owned 50 percent by Dow Chemical, is in bankruptcy. White said Mahlum will not pursue her claim against Dow Corning.

Dow Chemical spokesman John Musser said the company intends to ask the court to reconsider its decision, which he said was inconsistent with rulings in other states such as California and New York. Those other states considered nearly the same evidence and did not hold Dow Chemical liable, he said.

The court, in the majority opinion written by Justice Bob Rose, said Dow Chemical did the safety testing of the silicone gel breast implant for Dow Corning.

Rose said the court agreed with the Mahlums that Dow Chemical was negligent, because it never sought to determine the long-term effects of silicone. "'Once Dow Chemical undertook to test the safety of Dow Corning's liquid silicone," he wrote, "it was required to fully complete this testing until a reliable safety determination was made."

The company did "very little with respect to follow up, long-term testing," Rose wrote, adding, "Dow Chemical should have used its influence to halt the marketing of Dow Corning's silicone breast implants until the long-term effect of silicone breast implants on humans was understood and these products were determined to be safe."

Chief Justice Charles Springer agreed with the majority decision but said Mahlum should also get the $10 million in punitive damages, because there was "implied malice" on the part of Dow Chemical.

Justices Bill Maupin and Miriam Shearing dissented, saying the whole $14 million judgment should be wiped out. They said there was no evidence to demonstrate Dow Chemical negligently performed its testing. In addition, they said there is nothing to show Dow Chemical undertook a duty to ensure the safety of the final product.

Maupin and Shearing also said there was nothing to show the connection between the testing and the harm Mahlum suffered.

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