BBC: This Day in History ... 1992

[Guest guest]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/6/newsid_247

7000/2477901.stm

Check out the maddening video on this site ... there is a place to

tell your story. Let's 'upgrade' their information.

Their telling of the Dow Bankruptcy has some truth to it ... " the

settlement came to nothing. "

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/bsp/witness_form.stm

1992: US halts breast implants

The United States Government has advised doctors to suspend the use

of silicone breast implants pending an investigation into their

safety.

The move has raised fears around the world that silicone breast

implants could leak or rupture, causing injury or illness.

The US Food and Drug Administration said surgeons should stop

operating for 45 days while new evidence was examined by a special

advisory panel.

Last November, the FDA received 2,500 complaints from women who

experienced problems such as persistent pain, ruptures, hardening of

breast tissue and recurrent ill health.

We are still waiting for any evidence that stands up to scientific

scrutiny that there is any danger from these implants.

Dr Levick, National Hospital for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery

Many British surgeons have accused the US Government of

scaremongering. They insist that breast implants are safe, with few

side-effects reported since they were introduced 30 years ago.

" There's a lot of hysteria appearing and there's a lot of misleading

results, " said Levick of the National Hospital for Aesthetic

Plastic Surgery in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire. " We are still waiting

for any evidence that stands up to scientific scrutiny that there is

any danger from these implants. "

At least two million women in America are said to have breast

implants - 80% for cosmetic reasons.

In the UK, about 100,000 women have had breast augmentation

operations and about half of those were carried out to reconstruct

the breast after surgery to remove cancer.

Your Memories?

Write your account of the events.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/bsp/witness_form.stm

Silicone implants first came into use in the 1960s (check out the

photo on the site)

BBC's Triona Holden reports: British women are desperate for more

information

In Context

Manufacturers were unable to provide enough data on the safety of

their products so to this day the FDA has a moratorium on the use of

silicone implants except for women who need breast reconstruction.

There is no such ban in the UK and government officials on both

sides of the Atlantic continue to reassure women who already had

silicone implants that there was no immediate danger to their health

and that they should not have them removed.

In 1994 the three largest producers of silicone breast implants

agreed to pay $4.75 billion to women harmed by their products. The

settlement came to nothing and Dow Corning, the biggest of the

three, filed for bankruptcy in 1995 under the weight of lawsuits

brought against it.

In November 2001, following pressure from groups representing women

concerned about the effects of silicone on the body, the European

Commission set up safety procedures governing breast implants but

ruled out a total ban.

Silicone gel breast implants were first used in 1962.

Only silicone gel breast implants and saline-filled breast implants

are available for use in the UK. Hydrogel-filled breast implants

have been withdrawn from the UK market as a precautionary measure.

In the UK around 10,000 women have breast implants each year

80% of those are silicone.

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www.BreastImplantAwareness.org