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http://www.click2houston.com/hou/health/stories/health-145118020020510-110513.html

Obituary Includes Breast Implant Warning

Woman's Dying Wish Fulfilled

Posted: 11:38 a.m. CDT May 10, 2002Updated: 3:02 p.m. CDT May 10, 2002

HOUSTON -- A Houston woman used her obituary to warn others about what said were the dangers of breast implants -- a danger that took her life. Dot Sauer lovingly remembers her best friend, , who died on March 20. "Most of the time in obituaries, they don't state particularly what somebody has died from and she felt there are so many forgotten women out there that she wanted it in print," Sauer said. So Sauer fulfilled one of ' last requests. "When she died, one of the requests she made of me was to be sure her obituary stated it was from complications of breast implants," Sauer said. "She had heart problems. She had lupus symptoms. She had a blood clot. She had migraines." In 1981, got silicone breast implants to improve her looks. "Basically just for the firmness. Basically so she didn't start drooping later in life," Sauer said. By the time silicone became a household name a decade later, ' friends said she was already getting sick. "It was as dramatic a decline in a person as I have ever seen. She was, after all, just about 40 years old," friend Bert Moser said. "When they removed the breast implants, instead of the clear color they are when they put it in, it was almost a mustard yellow with red streaks of blood," Sauer said. Every day became painful for , according to friends. "She and I talked a lot about her death because she felt she would die at a young age," Sauer said. "I don't know if anyone else truly believed that. I did. Maybe it was because we were so close." Sauer said that hoped that one day a woman would see her obituary, and then change her mind about getting implants. "It didn't surprise me because I thought she wanted other people to get something from her life and that way, she would find meaning in her own," Sauer said. "I think is watching me and the only reason I'm doing this is it is the very last thing I can do for my very best friend I have ever had. I miss her and I just think she would be smiling on me." is survived by her husband, Ben, a daughter and two sons.

Implants Are Tested

In 1994, the Food and Drug Administration pulled silicone breast implants off the market after thousands of women said they had medical problems after their implants ruptured. Scientists have searched for the missing link between symptoms, ruptured implants and certain diseases, but so far, there has not been any concrete evidence. "We have been able to find no correlation between silicone gel implants and any disease process -- lupus, arthritis, breast cancer or others," said Dr. Friedman, with the Baylor College of Medicine. But the FDA moratorium has not kept silicone breast implants off the market completely. Women can get them through research protocols offered by implant makers. "The only person who is not a candidate for the study is a primary breast augmentation patient. Basically, a patient who has never had implants before," Friedman said. Saline implants contain silicone in the outer shell, according to industry experts. Keeling said a link has not been found between symptoms and ruptured implants because the diseases have not yet been named. "It seems to be not typical lupus, not typical rheumatoid arthritis, not typical scleroderma," Keeling said. Several women gave what was left of their implants to forensic toxicologist Dr. Ernie Lykissa for testing. "It is similar to cigarettes that not everyone who smokes is going to get lung cancer. We think there's a genetic factor here. We think there may be an environmental trigger," Lykissa said. Researchers said they are now looking at a genetic link. The National Institute of Health will release the final results of the largest and most comprehensive study of silicone breast implants later this year. The results will focus on the connection between silicone implants and connective tissue disorders.