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Something was missing in Friday's announcement by the Food and Drug Administration that it was lifting a 14-year ban on silicone-gel breast implants: an apology to Midland's Dow Corning Corp.

That's the least the agency could do, since it was the FDA's ban on the implants in 1992 that sparked an onslaught of lawsuits -- 19,000 of them -- and forced Dow Corning into Chapter 11 bankruptcy to keep the company afloat.

Billions of dollars later, Dow Corning emerged from bankruptcy. Perhaps along with an apology, the FDA should have offered some help in paying those billions the company had to shell out to settle its legal claims. Isn't that the least the FDA could do, since it played such a huge role in casting doubt about the silicone-gel implants the agency now is saying are safe?

Dow Corning officials, in their response to the FDA announcement, took the high road, simply pointing out that this case shows "the critical need for science literacy and its importance in making informed decisions, as individuals, as government agencies and as a society."

We'll take it one step further. This case shows the problems that occur when a government agency becomes a pawn for a class-action-eager civil lawsuit system willing to take down an innocent company for the sake of the almighty buck.

The FDA's announcement Friday was welcome, but it was more than a decade overdue.

©Midland Daily News 2006

Added: Tuesday November 21, 2006 at 03:07 PM EST

Your article spceifies that the pulling of the inserts by the FDA is what sparked the lawsuits. Bunkum. The lawsuits would have happened anyway, because these women were very sick. Whether Corning colluded with the ultimate makers of the implants to squelch the science that demonstrated them guilty is a question that still needs an open and honest answer as far as I am concerned.

Chestert Atkins, Midland Mi

Right on, MDN! How about sending a few copies of this editorial to Washington?

Alan Headbloom, Allendale, MI

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Dow Chemical and Corning have both lied though out the long years, we've been forced to wait for any type of, compensation. The FDA pulled a slick one by, calling a lame duck session to approve silicone breast Implants before, the new Democratic congress took over in January. IMHO Dow chose to file Chapter 11 to stall paying, us. An apology is, Not and won't ever Be due to, Dow Corning or Chemical!