| Ilena Rose 2005-01-28, 8:11 am |
| ~~~ Thanks for the reminder of this one Patty! ~~~
http://www.center4research.org/pr_nov03.html
Canadian Study Confirms Women with Breast Implants
Require Significantly Greater Medical Care
Women With Implants Were Four Times More Likely to be Hospitalized
Washington, DC: A new study by epidemiologists at the British
Columbia Centre of Excellence for Women's Health, finds that
Canadian women with breast implants use much more medical services
than other women of the same age, education, and lifestyles.
Data were collected from more than 700 women, and the researchers
compared the use of medical services by women who had breast
implants to similar women who did not have breast implants. In the
years following their implant surgery, women who have or previously
had breast implants:
visited doctors and specialists significantly more often.
were more than four times as likely to be hospitalized, and
experienced more hospitalizations over the study period than women
without implants.
Epidemiologist and principal investigator Aleina Tweed points out
that all these differences remained significant when age, marital
status, education level, exercise, use of alcohol, and geographic
region were statistically controlled. Types of implants (saline or
silicone gel) did not significantly affect hospitalization or
medical utilization.
More than half (51%) of implant patients reported at least one
additional breast-implant related surgery subsequent to the initial
implant surgery. Of those, half (49%) had undergone one additional
surgery, 23% had undergone two, 11% had undergone three, and 17% had
undergone four or more additional surgeries. After coping with
complications, 40% of women with implants had them permanently
removed.
Compared to most other breast implant studies, these women had
implants for a longer period of time. Only one-third of the women in
the study had implants for less than 10 years (some for just a few
months), while 42% had implants for 11-20 years, and 24% had
implants for 21 years or longer. Although the women did not complain
about their health, they had substantial health problems. Almost two
out of three reported their health as good or very good, but half
had been diagnosed with at least one chronic illness, and one in
three had quit their job or reduced their work hours because of
health problems.
Breast implant surgery is usually paid for by the patient, not
insurance. In the U.S., reconstruction after mastectomy is usually
paid by insurance, but complications that occur later are not always
covered. Complications after augmentation are rarely paid by
insurance. In Canada and the United States, approximately 20% of
implant surgeries are for reconstruction, primarily after cancer or
prophylactic mastectomy, and 80% are cosmetic augmentation. This
study indicates that breast implants increase the need for health
care services among all the women receiving these devices, and many
will have to bear these costs themselves.
High complication rates for women with breast implants have been
well-documented. A Mayo Clinic study, for example, found that 25% of
women with breast implants suffered local complications requiring
additional surgery within five years. Studies by implant
manufacturers in the U.S. have reported even higher rates, with most
reconstruction patients and a large proportion of augmentation
patients reporting at least one serious complication within three
years. In addition, there were 103,343 adverse reaction reports
regarding silicone breast implants and 23,454 reports for saline
implants received by the Food and Drug Administration between 1985
and 1996.
"This study is important because it shows that women with implants
need much more medical care than other women of their age, social
class, and similar lifestyles. It is striking that these women were
not complaining about their health, and yet were very impaired and
often unable to work. This has ominous implications for our own
healthcare system and disability policies in the U.S.," explains Dr.
Diana Zuckerman, president of the National Center for Policy
Research (CPR) for Women & Families, a think tank that focuses on
health and safety policies. "The new findings are consistent with
the decision of the U.S. government to sue breast implant
manufacturers for tens of millions of dollars to recoup the costs of
medical care for women who had problems from their breast implants."
The findings have implications for the FDA, whose Advisory panel was
unusually divided when the voted 9-6 to recommend approval of
silicone gel breast implants on October 15. Physicians and
scientists on the panel repeatedly raised questions about the health
implications of the high complication rates reported by the
manufacturer. Although available at the time of the hearing, the
findings of this new report were not brought to the attention of the
FDA advisory panel when they criticized the FDA and the company for
the lack of long-term safety data.
CPR for Women & Families is a nonprofit think tank that uses
research information to improve the health and safety of women,
children and families. Check out www.breastimplantinfo.org for more
information on silicone breast implants.
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