Dow Reinstated as Defendant in Implant Suits : Consumers: Firm says it has no plans to participate in settlement talks. Nearly 5,000 women have sued.

A federal judge reinstated Dow Chemical Co. as a defendant in thousands of breast implant lawsuits Tuesday, raising the possibility of new negotiations in a landmark product-liability settlement.

Attorneys for the women say the ruling by U.S. District Judge Sam Pointer could force Dow Chemical to the bargaining table. Manufacturers have already agreed to pay more than $4 billion to women who say implants harmed them.

Pointer reversed a December, 1993, decision that Dow Chemical should be dismissed from the cases because it had no direct knowledge of implants made by Dow Corning Corp., a joint venture of Dow Chemical and Corning Inc.

The judge ruled that new evidence could lead jurors to believe that Dow Chemical was aware Dow Corning was using its silicone research as early as 1948 in the manufacture of implants.

About 4,900 women have filed federal lawsuits against Dow Chemical, but that number will probably be reduced because some of those women have already entered the settlement, the largest for product liability ever.

Tuesday’s ruling “means Dow Chemical can no longer sit on the sidelines and pretend it is not a player in this litigation,” said the women’s lawyer, Ralph Knowles of Atlanta.

But a spokesman said Dow Chemical had no plans to enter talks about the settlement, which Pointer approved last year.