HEALTH CARE

Trials to Proceed Against Dow Chemical: The 14th Court of Appeals in Houston rejected a request by the co-owner of breast implant maker Dow Corning Corp. that it be allowed to stay out of court during implant suits. Plaintiffs’ attorneys said Dow Chemical Co. should be made responsible because its shareholders profited off breast implant sales from 1964 to 1992 and because its facilities were used in early tests on silicone. State District Judge Michael Schneider cut off Dow Corning Corp. from hundreds of implant suits after the Midland, Mich., company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, leaving Dow Chemical as the primary defendant. Attorneys for Dow Chemical tried through the appeals panel to block that. A few trials are set to begin this summer. Dow Chemical and Corning Inc. each own half of Dow Corning Corp., which made breast implants from 1964 to 1992.