The Silicone cover Up

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Essentially You Magazine, December, 1996The Silicone Cover-Up and Political Manipulations

The Silicone Cover-Up and Political Manipulations

The silicone controversy is a little of everything that is wrong with America. "The greedy plaintiff's attorneys have created this hysteria" is but one of the many myths, huge, PR machines fueled by deep, deep pockets and no consciousness have sold to the American public. "Saline implants are perfectly fine, perfectly safe" is another. These falsehoods and countless others are part of the dis-information churned out by the mega-manufacturers whose devotion to their bottom line supercedes any modicum of truth or concern for their customers. No plastic surgeon mentions the overgrowth of fungus, mold and bacteria that finds fertile breeding ground in these salty petri dishes. The ill and disfigured plaintiffs are treated like rape victims ~ blamed for believing the lies of their plastic surgeons. The "scientific studies" paid for and orchestrated by the manufacturers are merely a gross manipulation of the medical, legal and political systems. It's gotten honed to a formula. Deny, stonewall, and ultimately blame the victims. Not unlike gay men kept "in the closet" by guilt and fear, the silicone victims are blamed for their misguided choices like AIDS victims are told they "deserve" their viral destruction. Asbestos, Agent Orange, and the Dalkon Shield were just practice to refine the silicone cover-up. The present Gulf War chemical warfare uncovering brings this issue back to the front pages of the papers. The neurological damage our soldiers are suffering mirrors the symptomology the "toxic chemical soup" creates as it escapes from degradable silicone bags and floods women's systems with many of these same chemicals and heavy metals. The mighty manufacturers and the medical profession are so addicted to silicone money now that they can't separate fact from fiction. It's well known that the orthopedic industry would be out of business with no silicone joints to place. And breast implants are the most coveted implant ever. Too bad the manufacturers failed to test them for safety before permanently implanting them into around 2 million trusting and duped women. "They'll last a lifetime" women were assured. Of course you can nurse your babies." The only basis for these assurances were "crossed fingers" and wishful thinking. No second generation ~ or adequate first generation studies had been done before mass installation of unrecallable, defective products began. The manufacturers are ruthless ~ they play to win ~ to keep their vast fortunes. The victims are fighting for their lives ~ to cover their mounting medical expenses. The Dows (Corning & Chemical) have a long incestuous relationship with the government. Supplying Agent Orange for Viet Nam alone could have made a success of any chemical company. How many years of denial preceded the miniscule restitution for the lives of thousands of our young soldiers? As dozens of thousands of women's immune systems and ultimately their health fails them, where will they turn? The government routinely denies them disability payments. Who will pay to remove these failed devices? How could platinum and freon and solvents and polyurethane become ingredients of this never FDA approved device? Why have the mountains of concealed, damaging documents been allowed to stay hidden with "gag" orders? Who benefits from this secrecy? This silicone "smoking gun" may well become the "blazing cannon" of the new millennium. Ilena Rosenthal is Director of the Humantics Foundation for Women and the author of Breast Implants: The Myths, The Facts, The Women. She also created and non*moderates the Internet Newsgroup, alt.support.breast-implant. She can be reached at 858/270-0680 or ilena@... 1996©Ilena Rosenthal