Cutter incident

1956: Bendectin for morning sickness used by 40% pregnant women in U.S.; National Enquirer story alleging birth defects (source was Melvin Belli); scientifically unfounded as per 27 studies, but Merrill Dow removed drug from market in 1983; 1992: FED director Kessler “decides” insufficient safety data on silicone breast implants (available for 30 years, used by two million Americans) and imposes ban that  onslaught of litigation, though no data links implants to connective-tissue disease. After court cases, “the companies that made Bendectin and breast implants didn’t become more attentive to making safer products because their products weren’t unsafe; they were just found to be unsafe in court” (Offit, loc 2000).