Dow Corning Gets Help in Moving Cases

A federal bankruptcy judge Thursday granted a request from Dow Corning Corp. that it be allowed to pay outside attorneys to help move breast implant cases to federal court from state court.

The ruling comes one day after U.S. District Judge Denise Page Hood decided that Dow Corning can move cases from where it is named a defendant to federal court in Detroit until a hearing on the matter scheduled for July 31.

Attorneys representing women who claim injuries from the implants are opposed to moving the cases to federal court.

Those attorneys argue the cases belong in state courts where they were originally filed.

Based in Bay City, Mich., Dow Corning filed for protection from creditors under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code on May 15. The action put an immediate halt to hundreds of lawsuits.