Re: Dr. Zuckerman on Press Conference / Breast Cancer & Implants

[Guest guest]

This link works when the period (.) at the end of the

address is removed.

I'm taking this paper to my surgeon (not a plastic

surgeon) who has been putting breast implants in women

with breast cancer for 30 years! He is firmly

convinced of their safety - Rogene

http://www.center4research.org/pdf/ImplantReport2006.pdf

[Guest guest]

I understand what your attorney is saying about the case not being emotional

but that's because he's looking at facts, rather than people's lives. It

sure as hell is emotional, when it happened to you!

Take care, Lea. Don't let them beat you down. It speaks a lot about your

case if it can stand on its own, without emotions.

Kenda

> Darling Friends:

>

> I am taking a beating from the lawyers and I hope that we will survive this.

> My lawyer seems to think that this is not an emotional issue. What could be

> more emotional than being disfigured by breast implants and have your

> quality of life taken away from you. I'm so broken at the moment and so is

> .

>

> Many women in my group have had breast implants after having cancer, one was

> given chemotherapy over her implants. She now has a heart condition. Another

> lady died after having implants for reconstruction after cancer. This

> procedure must stop, but how can we fight groups like Y-Me?

>

> We love you all and thank you.........Lea

> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~``

> Dr. Zuckerman on Press Conference / Breast Cancer &

> Implants

>

>

> We released our new report at a National Press Club Newsmaker event

> today. The press release is below and the report is at

> http://www.center4research.org/pdf/ImplantReport2006.pdf. Thanks so

> much to breast cancer/implant survivors Lynda Roth and Pam Noonan-

> Saraceni for coming to DC to speak at our press event. We were also

> joined by Dr. Wood, Bettye Green of African American Women in

> Touch, Pamela Bridgewater of Our Bodies Ourselves, and Pearson

> of National Women's Health Network.

>

>

>

> Our next step is to share the report and recommendations with

> Members of Congress. We'd love the help of those of you who are

> willing to write to your Senators and Congressional representative.

>

>

>

> Best wishes,

>

>

> BREAST CANCER SURVIVORS MAKING SURGERY DECISIONS

>

> WITH LIMITED INFORMATION, SAYS NEW REPORT

>

> Former Director of FDA Office on Women's Health Speaks at Release

> of " Decisions in the Dark "

>

>

>

> (Washington, D.C.) - Breast cancer survivors who undergo

> reconstructive surgery with silicone implants have access to very

> little research-based safety information about the likely risks,

> according to a report released today by the National Research Center

> for Women & Families. Dr. Wood, former director of the U.S.

> Food and Drug Administration's Office of Women, was a speaker at a

> National Press Club Newsmakers' event where the report was released.

>

>

>

> Decisions in the Dark: The FDA, Breast Cancer Survivors, and

> Silicone Implants, warns that industry-funded data indicates that

> reconstructive surgery patients experience substantially more

> complications, ruptures and a greater need for additional corrective

> surgeries than women who receive implants for augmentation

> purposes. The report also highlights FDA research showing that

> silicone implants interfere with mammography and may limit future

> breast cancer treatment options such as lumpectomy and sentinel node

> biopsy.

>

>

>

> The report reveals that:

>

>

>

> After selling silicone breast implants to tens of thousands of

> mastectomy patients in the last 5 years, under the condition that

> they participate in clinical trials, implant manufacturer Inamed

> included only 80 mastectomy patients in their longitudinal safety

> study submitted to the FDA, and Mentor Corporation included 0 breast

> cancer patients in their only long-term study

> Industry-funded research reveals that reconstruction patients

> experience two to three times as many complications and additional

> surgeries as augmentation patients;

> Most ruptures (86 percent) are " silent " and can only be detected

> with MRIs, yet Inamed included less than 30 women in their sample of

> breast cancer patients undergoing MRIs to determine rupture rates,

> and the medical societies for plastic surgeons do not advise women

> to undergo MRIs;

> · Research consistently indicates that reconstruction

> patients are not enjoying life more than mastectomy patients without

> reconstruction, and there is evidence they may be more likely to

> commit suicide; and

> · Breast implants can limit treatment options for later

> breast cancer;

>

>

> " For a woman to survive breast cancer and then find herself facing

> additional surgeries because of a poorly tested product is terribly

> unfair, " said Dr. Zuckerman, President of the National

> Research Center for Women & Families, and author of the

> report. " It's critical that implant manufacturers include breast

> cancer survivors in their research, and that they carefully test for

> any adverse health impacts that occur over the lifetime of these

> devices. "

>

>

>

> " It is disturbing that the FDA would consider approving these

> devices despite the lack of data for the intended population, " said

> Dr. Wood, former director of the FDA's Office of Women's

> Health.

>

>

>

> The report focuses on the lack of adequate short-term or long-term

> clinical data being provided to the FDA by implant manufacturers for

> all breast cancer patients. However, those least represented in the

> current research are women of color, such as African American, Asian

> and Hispanic breast cancer patients.

>

>

>

> " We have good reason to believe the medical experiences of these

> women differ from those of white patients, " said Bettye Green, RN,

> President of African American Women in Touch and a breast cancer

> survivor and nationally-respected advocate, who spoke at the

> event. " Women need better information about implants and their long-

> term safety and effectiveness so that they can make informed choices

> about the risks of reconstructive surgery. "

>

>

>

> Pam Noonan-Saraceni, a breast cancer survivor, said she would not

> have chosen silicone implants had she known years ago what she knows

> now. " I trusted my doctors when they told me the implants were safe

> and would last forever. "

>

>

>

> The report was released at a National Press Club Newsmaker event

> today, sponsored by the National Research Center (NRC) for Women &

> Families. NRC for Women & Families is a nonpartisan, nonprofit

> research and education organization that works to improve policies

> and programs that affect the health and safety of women, children

> and families.

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

> Opinions expressed are NOT meant to take the place of advice given by

> licensed health care professionals. Consult your physician or licensed

> health care professional before commencing any medical treatment.

>

> " Do not let either the medical authorities or the politicians mislead you.

> Find out what the facts are, and make your own decisions about how to live a

> happy life and how to work for a better world. " - Linus ing, two-time

> Nobel Prize Winner (1954, Chemistry; 1963, Peace)

>

> See our photos website! Enter " implants " for access at this link:

> http://.shutterfly.com/action/

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hang in there, Lea. Because of you, I am sure there are countless

women who did not get implants, or perhaps won't get them in the

future. You've helped others who have suffered as well. I don't

envy you for having to deal with the legality of all of this, but I

admire you for doing it. No matter what the outcome, you will come

out of it a winner because you chose to fight.

Sis

--- In , Kenda Skaggs <skaggs@...>

wrote:

>

> I understand what your attorney is saying about the case not being

emotional

> but that's because he's looking at facts, rather than people's

lives. It

> sure as hell is emotional, when it happened to you!

>

> Take care, Lea. Don't let them beat you down. It speaks a lot

about your

> case if it can stand on its own, without emotions.

>

> Kenda

>

>

> > Darling Friends:

> >

> > I am taking a beating from the lawyers and I hope that we will

survive this.

> > My lawyer seems to think that this is not an emotional issue.

What could be

> > more emotional than being disfigured by breast implants and have

your

> > quality of life taken away from you. I'm so broken at the moment

and so is

> > .

> >

> > Many women in my group have had breast implants after having

cancer, one was

> > given chemotherapy over her implants. She now has a heart

condition. Another

> > lady died after having implants for reconstruction after cancer.

This

> > procedure must stop, but how can we fight groups like Y-Me?

> >

> > We love you all and thank you.........Lea

> > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~``

> > Dr. Zuckerman on Press Conference /

Breast Cancer &

> > Implants

> >

> >

> > We released our new report at a National Press Club Newsmaker

event

> > today. The press release is below and the report is at

> > http://www.center4research.org/pdf/ImplantReport2006.pdf. Thanks

so

> > much to breast cancer/implant survivors Lynda Roth and Pam

Noonan-

> > Saraceni for coming to DC to speak at our press event. We were

also

> > joined by Dr. Wood, Bettye Green of African American Women

in

> > Touch, Pamela Bridgewater of Our Bodies Ourselves, and

Pearson

> > of National Women's Health Network.

> >

> >

> >

> > Our next step is to share the report and recommendations with

> > Members of Congress. We'd love the help of those of you who are

> > willing to write to your Senators and Congressional

representative.

> >

> >

> >

> > Best wishes,

> >

> >

> > BREAST CANCER SURVIVORS MAKING SURGERY DECISIONS

> >

> > WITH LIMITED INFORMATION, SAYS NEW REPORT

> >

> > Former Director of FDA Office on Women's Health Speaks at Release

> > of " Decisions in the Dark "

> >

> >

> >

> > (Washington, D.C.) - Breast cancer survivors who undergo

> > reconstructive surgery with silicone implants have access to very

> > little research-based safety information about the likely risks,

> > according to a report released today by the National Research

Center

> > for Women & Families. Dr. Wood, former director of the

U.S.

> > Food and Drug Administration's Office of Women, was a speaker at

a

> > National Press Club Newsmakers' event where the report was

released.

> >

> >

> >

> > Decisions in the Dark: The FDA, Breast Cancer Survivors, and

> > Silicone Implants, warns that industry-funded data indicates

that

> > reconstructive surgery patients experience substantially more

> > complications, ruptures and a greater need for additional

corrective

> > surgeries than women who receive implants for augmentation

> > purposes. The report also highlights FDA research showing that

> > silicone implants interfere with mammography and may limit future

> > breast cancer treatment options such as lumpectomy and sentinel

node

> > biopsy.

> >

> >

> >

> > The report reveals that:

> >

> >

> >

> > After selling silicone breast implants to tens of thousands of

> > mastectomy patients in the last 5 years, under the condition that

> > they participate in clinical trials, implant manufacturer Inamed

> > included only 80 mastectomy patients in their longitudinal safety

> > study submitted to the FDA, and Mentor Corporation included 0

breast

> > cancer patients in their only long-term study

> > Industry-funded research reveals that reconstruction patients

> > experience two to three times as many complications and

additional

> > surgeries as augmentation patients;

> > Most ruptures (86 percent) are " silent " and can only be detected

> > with MRIs, yet Inamed included less than 30 women in their

sample of

> > breast cancer patients undergoing MRIs to determine rupture

rates,

> > and the medical societies for plastic surgeons do not advise

women

> > to undergo MRIs;

> > · Research consistently indicates that reconstruction

> > patients are not enjoying life more than mastectomy patients

without

> > reconstruction, and there is evidence they may be more likely to

> > commit suicide; and

> > · Breast implants can limit treatment options for later

> > breast cancer;

> >

> >

> > " For a woman to survive breast cancer and then find herself

facing

> > additional surgeries because of a poorly tested product is

terribly

> > unfair, " said Dr. Zuckerman, President of the National

> > Research Center for Women & Families, and author of the

> > report. " It's critical that implant manufacturers include breast

> > cancer survivors in their research, and that they carefully test

for

> > any adverse health impacts that occur over the lifetime of these

> > devices. "

> >

> >

> >

> > " It is disturbing that the FDA would consider approving these

> > devices despite the lack of data for the intended population, "

said

> > Dr. Wood, former director of the FDA's Office of Women's

> > Health.

> >

> >

> >

> > The report focuses on the lack of adequate short-term or long-

term

> > clinical data being provided to the FDA by implant manufacturers

for

> > all breast cancer patients. However, those least represented in

the

> > current research are women of color, such as African American,

Asian

> > and Hispanic breast cancer patients.

> >

> >

> >

> > " We have good reason to believe the medical experiences of these

> > women differ from those of white patients, " said Bettye Green,

RN,

> > President of African American Women in Touch and a breast cancer

> > survivor and nationally-respected advocate, who spoke at the

> > event. " Women need better information about implants and their

long-

> > term safety and effectiveness so that they can make informed

choices

> > about the risks of reconstructive surgery. "

> >

> >

> >

> > Pam Noonan-Saraceni, a breast cancer survivor, said she would not

> > have chosen silicone implants had she known years ago what she

knows

> > now. " I trusted my doctors when they told me the implants were

safe

> > and would last forever. "

> >

> >

> >

> > The report was released at a National Press Club Newsmaker event

> > today, sponsored by the National Research Center (NRC) for Women

&

> > Families. NRC for Women & Families is a nonpartisan, nonprofit

> > research and education organization that works to improve

policies

> > and programs that affect the health and safety of women, children

> > and families.

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> > Opinions expressed are NOT meant to take the place of advice

given by

> > licensed health care professionals. Consult your physician or

licensed

> > health care professional before commencing any medical treatment.

> >

> > " Do not let either the medical authorities or the politicians

mislead you.

> > Find out what the facts are, and make your own decisions about

how to live a

> > happy life and how to work for a better world. " - Linus ing,

two-time

> > Nobel Prize Winner (1954, Chemistry; 1963, Peace)

> >

> > See our photos website! Enter " implants " for access at this link:

> > http://.shutterfly.com/action/

> >

> >