Recent news stories about legal decisions against various corporations of the Dow Chemical complex seem designed to excite our pity. The poor mega-corp is being victimized into poverty by the women who are ill or disabled because of conditions traceable to unleashed internal silicone.
Medical opinions vary. The company's medical people say implants are harmless. The physicians who have treated the women disagree. Surprise?
The company, Dow Chemical, AKA Merrill-Dow, (which later became Marion-Merrill-Dow), Dow-Corning -- has an interesting history. In all its mergers and transmogrifications it has produced a variety of compounds.
These are the happy people, for example, who gave us Agent Orange, Napalm and Bendectin. The latter is America's competition for Thalidomide, the German-made deformer of babies. We didn't even know about the breast implants when all of these were in the news.
I confirmed the Dow-origins of all three compounds from multiple sources. They are from Dow in one or more of their Protean forms. Agent Orange involved additional companies, including Monsanto, Hercules, Uniroyal, Shamrock... I have from the Internet accumulated a fascinating story of Napalm's development. Bendectin's effects were demonstrable, but not as widespread as those of Thalidomide. That made it okay for some folks, because it deformed such a small percentage of newborns. Too bad that for the mothers and the babies it was 100 percent. Dow lost some court cases and won some cases before removing the compound from the market.
Environmental Research Foundation in Baltimore advised care in references to Dow because of their many transmogrifications and subsidiaries. The company(ies) reportedly use(s) this to escape suits, and at least to confuse people. Merrill-Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was the entity mentioned in the Bendectin case.
The Institute of Medicine has volume on veterans and Agent Orange including the judge's decisions about liabilities; the makers were sued. Under the settlement Dow was named among the defending companies which included Shamrock Corporation, Monsanto, Uniroyal, Hercules, Inc. and T.H. Agricultural Institution. But, Dow also originated dichloromethylornithene. (Don't worry; it probably won't come up in conversation any time soon.) This compound proved remarkably effective against full-blown trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness), the disease caused by the bite of the tsetse fly. This illness causes debilitation and death, blotting out productivity among humans and domestic animals over great areas of Africa.
As a reporter for International Press Service, USIA, I was assigned to do a story for the African press about how the treatment was developed and exactly what it does. I interviewed the scientists as well as the company PR representative. All were very forthcoming.
So mellowed was I by this helpfulness that, without actually naming any of the really terrible compounds in the Dow cupboard, I made an offer. Look, I said, you've done a really fine thing here against a physically and economically devastating disease. Here is your chance. If you have other products you are especially proud of, I'd be happy to mention them in the story.
I never heard another word. Silence.
Was Dow just leaving well enough alone? Judging by the news, maybe this was one time the PR guy knew when to keep quiet.
The power of the big pharmaceutical houses is truly terrible. They appear to be able to do or say whatever pleases them. When cornered, they just amputate one of their "limbs."
Like the ad says: "Dow lets you do great things!"
Depends on where you stand, I guess.
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P.O. Box 2309 Ocean City, MD 21842 jocee@shore.intercom.net Other Writings by Jo Campbell