Fw: Women speak of breast implant horror stories, others ask that ban be

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----- Original Message ----- From: ilena rose

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Sent: Tuesday, October 14, 2003 5:15 PM

Subject: Women speak of breast implant horror stories, others ask that ban be

http://wvgazette.com/section/APNews/News/ap0780nEXCERPTS:"My bones still scream with pain,'' breast cancer survivor Pam Dowd,of Boise, Idaho, said at the hearing. She described having siliconescraped off her chest wall when leaking implants were removed in 1995.Carolyn Wolf of Centerville, Va., described "a long thin greasy glob''of silicone oozing from her eye and X-rays showing it lodged elsewherein her body even after the implants she had for 29 years were removed.Women speak of breast implant horror stories, others ask that ban beliftedBy LAURAN NEERGAARD AP Medical Writer WASHINGTON (AP) -- The women told regulators of breast implants thatcaused rock-like scars, of silicone leeching into their organs andoozing through their skin, of unending pain.Dozens of women and critics who blamed silicone gel breast implantsfor damaging health effects urged the Food and Drug Administration onTuesday not to lift its 11-year ban on the devices.But after they sat down, a line of other women pleaded for access tothe implants, calling them the most natural-feeling option to rebuildcancer-ravaged breasts or enlarge small ones.The FDA opened the two-day hearing to seek advice on whether InamedCorp. should be allowed to again sell silicone gel-filled breastimplants here, like it does in Europe. The two key issues beingdebated are:--Inamed's own research found 46 percent of breast cancer patientsgetting silicone implants needed additional breast surgery withinthree years -- as did one in five otherwise healthy women who hadbreast enlargements.--Whether Inamed has tracked women's health for a long enough periodafter implantation. Its key study covered just three years. FDA's ownresearch suggests implants often break after seven years, and manywomen rep ort side effects once they've had the implants for a decade.Inamed argues that many studies worldwide over the last decade haveexonerated silicone implants of causing serious disease, and thatshort-term complications like painful scarring and extra surgery arecomparable to today's main option -- implants filled with salt water.But women who say their silicone implants harmed them tell a differentstory."My bones still scream with pain,'' breast cancer survivor Pam Dowd,of Boise, Idaho, said at the hearing. She described having siliconescraped off her chest wall when leaking implants were removed in 1995.Carolyn Wolf of Centerville, Va., described "a long thin greasy glob''of silicone oozing from her eye and X-rays showing it lodged elsewherein her body even after the implants she had for 29 years were removed."We beg you, please protect the younger generation,'' she said. Other women just as passi onately defended the devices, noting thattoday's saline implants have problems, too, and that men receivedsilicone testicular implants without concern. Webber of land told of her saline implants turning rockhard and causing disabling pain, until she had them replaced withsilicone ones."I felt like myself, a whole natural and complete woman,'' Webbersaid. "My breasts felt like mine.''"I'm offended that a woman's option to choose a silicone gel implantwas taken away,'' added Bancarz of California, who received gelimplants for enlargements in 1987. She reported no side effects.But it was the critics' wrenching stories that appeared to move FDAadvisers. They grilled Inamed about why it couldn't provide long-termstudies proving how long implants really last.Joanne Kuhne, a company executive, said Inamed planned to follow thewomen for another seven years but wanted to resume sales whi le it did.Ninety-three percent of women in the company's study remainedsatisfied with the implant two years later, she told the panel.Today's implants may break less often than those used 20 or 30 yearsago because doctors have made a key change, said Dr. Spear, atown University plastic surgeon and Inamed consultant. They usedto treat painful scar tissue by squeezing women's breasts to break itup, which also could break the implant."It's pretty clearly known ... this is not a good idea,'' Spear said. The advisers plan to issue their recommendation Wednesday. The FDA isnot bound by their opinion but typically follows it.The FDA ended routine sales of the once highly popular siliconeimplants in 1992 amid fears that leaking devices could cause seriousdisease. Breast cancer patients and certain other women could stillget the implants under strictly controlled research studies, but womenwan ting bigger breasts have had to use saline filled ones.Despite thousands of lawsuits that sent one of the largest makers ofsilicone implants, Dow Corning, into bankruptcy, major scientificstudies have never linked implants to serious diseases like lupus orcancer.Inamed says in countries where both types are sold, women far prefersilicone implants.The critics say painful scarring and re-operations aside, studieshaven't tracked women for enough time to exonerate silicone implants.And they point to a National Cancer Institute that found a possibleincrease of lung and brain cancer among silicone implant recipients,and a rise in suicide compared to other recipients of plastic surgery.~~~~~~~~~~~If you have not yet done so, please sign the petition asking the FDAto delay any safety approval.http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/705718085

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