| Ilena Rose 2006-10-20, 4:30 pm |
| Excerpt: The U.S.-based National Research Center for Women and
Families, which has lobbied against the implants in the United States,
said Canada also was making an ill-advised decision.
"This shocking and unfortunate decision will jeopardize women's health
for many years to come," the group's president, Diana Zuckerman, said
from Washington.
She said possible silicone leaks could spread to other organs and
could cost Canada's public health system millions of dollars.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
http://ca.today.reuters.com/news/ne...&archived=False
Canada allows silicone breast implants again
Fri Oct 20, 2006 3:16 PM EDT
By Randall Palmer
OTTAWA (Reuters) - The Canadian government licensed the sale of
silicone gel breast implants on Friday, reversing a partial ban that
was in place for more than 13 years over health concerns.
Health Canada granted licenses to two U.S. companies, Mentor Corp. and
Inamed Corp., a unit of Allergan Inc. to market their implants in
Canada.
The two firms had already received conditional approval from the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration, but are waiting for a final go-ahead to
begin selling the devices in the United States.
Canada had brought in a voluntary moratorium on the implants in 1992
and turned it into an effective ban in 1993 by saying they would not
be allowed on the market without new clinical studies.
The government did allow 24,000 silicone implants since then through a
Special Access program, under which doctors had to certify that
suitable alternative procedures were not available.
Saline-filled breast implants were the only kind that had been
generally available in Canada in the meantime.
"Health Canada's licensing of a medical device does not mean the
device is risk-free," the Canadian agency said.
"Rather, it means the device has the potential to provide benefits,
and the risks have been reduced as much as possible."
The agency cited comprehensive reviews in Britain and the United
States from 1995 to 2004 as concluding there was no evidence of
silicone implants causing auto-immune diseases or other systemic
illnesses.
Two further studies showed that women undergoing cosmetic breast
augmentation did not appear to have an increased long-term risk of
cancer and that breast implants did not appear to directly increase
mortality.
The U.S.-based National Research Center for Women and Families, which
has lobbied against the implants in the United States, said Canada
also was making an ill-advised decision.
"This shocking and unfortunate decision will jeopardize women's health
for many years to come," the group's president, Diana Zuckerman, said
from Washington.
She said possible silicone leaks could spread to other organs and
could cost Canada's public health system millions of dollars.
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