implant litigation, Bermuda-based insurer, ACE Ltd., learned yesterday that top scientists could find no links between the implants and diseases claimed by thousands of women.

A panel of four court-appointed researchers reported yesterday they found no proven links between silicone breast implants and diseases claimed by the women who sued implant manufacturers.

The long-anticipated findings of the independent committee are expected to be used in courts across the US, affecting the future of US implant litigation.

Just this July ACE paid out another $100 million in losses associated with breast implant litigation.

The latest disbursement brings the firm's total losses for such claims to $370 million -- $250 million of which was reportedly paid out in fiscal year 1997.

A number of ACE's insureds made claims relating to breast implants or related components or raw material they produced and/or sold.

In 1995, the Dow Corning Corp., once the largest implant maker and a significant defendant, filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code. Claims against Dow Corning remain stayed, subject to the Bankruptcy Code.

As of this past April, some $757 million had been distributed under a US settlement to implant recipients of the three major defendants.

Meanwhile, the scientific panel, appointed by US District Judge Sam Pointer of Birmingham to review conflicting scientific claims, found no definite links between implants and women's illnesses in four major areas: toxicology, immunology, epidemiology and rheumatology, the study of diseases of connective tissue such as rheumatoid arthritis.

"It is our informed opinion that the large majority of scientists in our respective disciplines would find merit in our reviews and analyses,'' they reported to Judge Pointer who oversees thousands of implant cases across the US.

The Associated Press reported that there remains a possibility that Sjogren's syndrome, marked by unusual dryness of the mouth, may be linked to silicone from implants, the panel said, but its symptoms "are nonspecific and relatively common in any population group.'' The report was welcomed by implant companies, which have spent years and millions of dollars defending themselves against implant lawsuits.

Dow Corning lawyer Doug Schoettinger said, "This adds to the trend of the past couple of years of courts rejecting the hypothesis that breast implants cause disease.'' But Suzanne Turner, a spokeswoman for the Command Trust Network, a support group for implant recipients, called the report "terrible news for women.'' "Once again, narrow scientific criteria ignore their suffering,'' she said.

Sybil Goldrich, an implant recipient and an activist for fellow recipients who have had problems, faulted the panel for not looking at the medical records of women who have filed suit over their implants.

"Nobody looks at those until they get to a courtroom,'' she said today.

The panel looked at previously published studies.

Thousands of women sued manufacturers blaming implants for sicknesses including lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, body aches, fatigue, memory loss and hardening of the breasts. Their lawyers contend scientific studies back up the claims.

Manufacturers deny hurting anyone and point to other studies that found no links between implants and health problems. They contend women's attorneys built their cases on flawed science.

Expert panels have reviewed evidence in previous cases, but never before did a committee have the ability to affect so many cases nationwide, according to the Washington-based Federal Judicial Center.

The findings could play a significant role for thousands of women who sued Dow Corning Corp. Under a proposed $3.2 billion settlement announced last month, women could either take the money the company offered -- payments would range from $12,000 to $300,000 -- or continue their lawsuits.

If they continue the lawsuits, the panel's findings could then be presented as evidence.

"Women will have to make the choice to litigate or choose the settlement path with full knowledge about what this panel decided,'' said Barbara Carmichael, a Dow Corning vice president.

When he announced the creation of the panel in May 1996, Pointer said the panel could provide "neutral commentary'' in videotaped testimony for federal and state courts. The experts had to be chosen from among those who had not worked with implant companies or women's attorneys.

Panel members are immunologist Betty A. Diamond of the Einstein College of Medicine in New York; epidemiologist Barbara S. Hulka of the University of North Carolina; rheumatologist Peter Tugwell of the University of Ottawa in Ontario, Canada; and toxicologist Nancy I. Kerkvliet of Oregon State University.