ROBINS' RESPONSE TO THE SPEECH BY EIGHTH CIRCUIT JUDGE LORD

Judge Lord's comments are not surprising in view of his previously expressed dislike of corporate America. What is surprising and distressing is the fact that a federal judge has abandoned his role as an impartial arbiter and, acknowledging from the bench his prejudice against the company, become an open advocate for one side. As counsel for the company noted, the judge's comments, based on a selective review of only a part of the evidence that would have been presented had the cases been tried, constituted a gross abuse of judicial discreion and power. Contrary to the judge's accusation, the company believes it has acted responsibly in the handling of the Dalkon Shield. The court chose to overlook the fact that in September 1980 Robins mailed a letter, recommending the removal of the Dalkon Shield from any woman still using the device, to approximately 200,000 physicians, clinics and govt. agencies. At the same time a news release was distributed to major wire services and newspapers in order to make the general public aware of the recommendation. The company believes this action was an adequate means of informing both the medical profession and any remaining users of the device of the desirability of removal. It should be noted that the FDA utilized essentially the same channels of dissemination nearly three years later when it issued a recommendation for removal of the device from remaining users.