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In 1992, the US Food and Drug Administration banned silicon breast implants
after public disquiet that they might cause disease. The ban was seen as
confirming the risk. What followed was a tornado of court cases. Of the
$4.25 billion in damages to women who had implants, $1 billion
went, predictably, to the lawyers. Science on Trial by Marcia Angell (Norton,
$27.50, ISBN 0 393 03973 0) raises important issues about the treatment
of scientific evidence in courtrooms told through a gripping story of confusion
and greed.