Timmie Jean Lindsey becomes the first woman to receive silicone breast implants. The Food and Drug Administration enacts the Medical Devices Amendment to the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. FDA now has the authority to review and approve the safety and effectiveness data of new medical devices. Manufacturers of the implants, when called to do so by the FDA, will be required to provide safety and effectiveness data. 1977 Richard Mithoff, a Houston attorney, wins the first lawsuit for a Cleveland woman who claims that her ruptured implants and subsequent operations had caused pain and suffering.
Case receives little publicity.
Ralph Nader's Public Citizen Health Research Group, Washington, D.C. sends out warning signals that silicone breast implants cause cancer. January 1982 FDA proposes to classify silicone breast implants into a Class III category which would require manufacturers to prove their safety in order to keep them on the market. 1984 Stern vs Dow Corning, San Francisco. Case wins on many internal Dow Corning documents that had been discovered in a Dow storage area by attorney Dan Bolton . Maria Stern's systemic autoimmune disease is found by a jury to be caused by her silicone breast implants.