LIABILITY: Telltale Memo About an IUD

Officials at G.D. Searle must have watched with concern three years ago when a raft of lawsuits forced bankruptcy on A.H. Robins, maker of the Dalkon Shield intrauterine birth-control device. With good reason: from 1974 to 1986 Searle sold in the U.S. the Copper-7, an IUD that, like the Dalkon Shield, has been suspected of causing serious illnesses or injuries in some users.

While Searle has won 14 of 17 Copper-7 court cases that went to a jury, things are not looking so good for an upcoming trial in St. Paul. The plaintiff, Esther Kociemba of Elk River, Minn., claims that the Copper-7 gave her pelvic inflammatory disease, which left her sterile. Internal Searle documents released by court order suggest that the company knew of physicians' safety concerns about the Copper-7 but kept on selling it. In a 1980 memo, a Searle doctor warned company officials that "all studies with which I am familiar conclude that all IUDs enhance the potential for PID."

Nearly 500 Copper-7 suits are pending; 10 million of the IUDs were sold in the U.S., and if Kociemba wins her case, many more of the women who have used the Copper-7 may be encouraged to sue. Nonetheless, the company remains confident of avoiding a Robins-style disaster. Says Spokeswoman Kay Bruno: "Our product doesn't cause the problems alleged."