Ask for findings to be invalidated

In this story: 'The panel was not neutral as we thought' 'Trustworthiness' at stake RELATED STORIES, SITES

April 13, 1999
Web posted at: 6:35 p.m. EDT (2235 GMT)

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (CNN) -- A motion was filed Tuesday to terminate a court-appointed science panel evaluating the safety of silicone breast implants, and invalidate its findings due to conflict of interest by one of the four scientists.

The motion accuses Dr. Peter Tugwell, a rheumatologist at the University of Ottawa, with failure to disclose a series of financial and professional relationships with a defendant in implant litigation, Bristol-Myers Squibb.

The motion was filed in federal court on behalf of the Silicone Gel Breast Implants Products Liability Litigation. The attorneys represent thousands of women with breast implant claims who say they have suffered health problems ranging from arthritis to lupus after receiving implants.

An attorney representing the panel refused comment.

Last December, the National Science Panel released a year- long analysis in which it unanimously concluded there was no evidence linking silicone breast implants to systemic disease. While not legally binding, the findings were expected to influence future implant lawsuits.

The landmark panel of scientists was appointed by U.S. District Judge Sam Pointer of Birmingham to review the scientific evidence linking silicone breast implants to disease.

'The panel was not neutral as we thought'

"The report put women with implants at ease and lulled them into a sense of security," said Sybil Goldrich with the Command Trust Network, which is an information source for women with breast implants. "Now we find out the panel was not neutral as we thought."

The motion filed Tuesday also asks that Tugwell be removed from the panel. Tugwell also could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

"Dr. Tugwell's activities have tainted the opinions of the entire science panel," the motion said.

Robert Gordon, an attorney with the plaintiff steering committee, estimated that thousands of women had settled or withdrawn their lawsuits after the panel's December report.

Command Trust Network represents more than 400,000 women in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand in the $3.2 billion breast implant settlement reached last July with Dow Corning Corp., a joint venture between Dow Chemical Co. and Corning Inc.

"For a core member of the science panel to be caught being on the payroll of an implant manufacturer throws into doubt the objectivity of the panel's entire report," Goldrich said.

The plaintiffs are not charging Bristol-Myers Squibb with intentionally trying to influence the panel, Gordon said. However, critics say the pharmaceutical industry is too closely tied to the medical community.

'Trustworthiness' at stake

"It's time to eliminate the influence of industry money on the scientific process," Goldrich said. "The trustworthiness of the scientific community is at stake. So is the health of thousands of women. I don't know where the women are going to go to get answers now."

The information concerning Tugwell's involvement with Bristol-Myers Squibb was discovered after the doctor gave depositions in February and April, Gordon said.

The relationships include becoming a paid consultant earning as much as $1,500 a day from the pharmaceutical firm while serving on the panel and agreeing to conduct a clinical trial for the drug maker on rheumatoid arthritis therapy, Command Trust Network said.

Tugwell also wrote recommendations for another doctor who conducted an industry-funded silicone breast implant study that was favorable to the manufacturers' position, the motion said.

One of the conditions for appointment to the federal panel was full disclosure of any potential conflicts of interest.

Bristol-Myers Squibb was a major supplier of breast implants prior to 1992, when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration imposed a moratorium on general sales of silicone implants. Most implants now used are saline encased in silicone.

Another panel of experts, appointed by the Institute of Medicine at the request of the National Institutes of Health, started deliberations last December on whether silicone breast implants cause disease.

Medical Correspondent Rhonda Rowland andReuters contributed to this report.