| BreastImplantAwareness.org 2006-06-29, 4:26 pm |
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The Silicone Smokescreen
The purpose of law
is to prevent the strong from
always having their way.
Ovid, 43 BC -- 18 AD
Ovid must be spinning in his grave!
For 35 years, silicone manufacturers have been selling harmful breast
implants -- products the FDA never approved.
Following in the footsteps of their cousins --The Tobacco Barons --
the
mighty Dows and other silicone manufacturers have run roughshod over
the
legal system. They followed the winning formula: Bury all
incriminating
evidence. Deny its existence. Make the victims prove your product is
not
safe. Even then, deny it. Put profit over human life. Deny it. Create
an
incestuous relationship with the AMA and the FDA. Deny it. Hire
expensive
PR firms to sway public opinion. Purchase favorable media with
mega-advertising dollars. Deny it. Sell sex.
Above all, create a "smokescreen" to confuse and confound the issue
and
protect your bottom line. Repeatedly claim that "there is no
scientific
proof that smoking (or silicone) causesı disease."
Itıs easy. Human beings make lousy lab rats. Tobacco has honed this
formula beautifully for well over 50 profit-filled years. Weıve really
"come a long way, baby."
However, it wasnıt until October 1996 (Science, October 18) after
thousands of studies and tens of millions of smoking-related deaths,
that
medical science was able to identify a genetic "missing link" between
smoking and lung cancer. Finally, proof. By then was there any doubt?
Already, a half a million Americans were dying annually from smoking
related diseases. "Tobacco science" had proven what everyone has known
for
decades.
Since the 60ıs, the silicone manufacturers, claiming no culpability,
out
of court and out of the public eye, settled thousands of cases of
implant
problems with "gag" orders which kept their "dirty little secrets"
hidden.
When one brave women, Mariann Hopkins refused to be silenced and took
her
case to jury, former San Diegan Dan Bolton dropped a bombshell on the
jury
and produced vast amounts of damning evidence from Dowıs own files.
Included were concealed studies showing how for years, Dow Corning
knew,
denied and hid the serious dangers. Dow lost all appeals, and the
Supreme
Court eventually upheld the verdict of fraud.
One of the studies that surfaced was the Dow sponsored, 1975 ACTA from
Sweden which indicated that silicone crosses the placental barrier. As
far
reaching as this fact is, to date, physicians nationwide continue to
assure implanted women that it is perfectly safe to carry and nurse
babies. Not one OB/GYN can tell me on what scientific studies these
assurances are based. None exists.
Retired professor of Health Education, Henrietta Farber is appalled at
the
lack of information given women today as to the true risks of
implants. A
survivor of double mastectomies and a series of disastrous implant
surgeries, she is shocked that Dr. Anne Wallace, UCSD Plastic Surgeon,
still quotes small, manufacturer financed studies as "proof" of
implant
safety. "Similar studies, could not have shown any correlation between
smoking and cancer. Dr. Wallace ignores newer studies indicating that
34%
of post mastectomy patients required additional surgery within the
first
five years after implantation." Dr. Wallace, whose recent lecture
aired on
UCSD-TV, described saline implants as "bags of water," never
mentioning
the fungus, mold and bacterial infections known to flourish in these
degradable silicone envelopes. Mrs. Farber added, "Over 33,000 women
have
filed complaints of serious complications to the FDA about their
saline
implants. People believe incorrectly that they have been approved by
the
FDA for safety."
However, on KNSD-TV, "Dirty Doctor" Dean Edell, describes saline
implants as "perfectly safe, perfectly fine." He has also been heard
proclaiming that he hopes that "implanted women never get a penny"
from
the makers of their defective products. Oh yes, the pennies.
Dow spent $191 million defending itself in the three years prior to
declaring bankruptcy in 1992 and crashing the huge class action suit.
Meanwhile, while safely in "bankruptcy protection" Dow Corning enjoyed
profits of $61 million in 1996, while Papa Dow Chemical earned $452
million in the first quarter of 1997.
Concurrently, here in San Diego County, there are estimated hundreds
of
women with no funds to have their disintegrating and ruptured implants
removed. Many are too ill with multiple autoimmune diseases to care
for
themselves and their families.
Brilliant as they were, The Dows made some early serious calculation
errors as to "cost benefit." Using strategy modeled after the
exploding
Pinto gas tanks, as the numbers of ruptured implants surfaced, they
hid
the details and continued to claim falsified rupture figures of only
1-5%.
Well-respected UCSD Radiologist, Dr. Michael Middleton, presented
details
of research done on 1,200 women to the Annual Meeting of the
Radiological
Society of North America in November, 1995. He explained that in
these
studies on women implanted between 10 and 12 years, "The rupture rate
for
non-polyurethane-coated implants was 31%, compared to 91% for
polyurethane-coated implants." The latter were taken off the market in
1991 after it was discovered that the polyurethane breaks down to TDA,
a
known carcinogen. Iıve heard of no women, however, who received a
"recall
notice."
The infamous class action suits have been brilliant stalling devices
to
keep the money where the manufacturers want it. Mentor Corporation of
Santa Barbara, threatening bankruptcy, forced all recipients to settle
with a "take it or leave it" offer. Their 1996 earnings were $23.8
million.
One of their customers, a 43 year old San Diegan woman who had had 3
sets
of failed implants, Mentorıs being one, has now reluctantly been
forced
into receiving public assistance. She has had 12 implant related
surgeries, has accumulated over $120,000 in medical bills, and lives
in
constant pain. Her total settlement from Mentor -- $379.90.
"It is unbelievable to me, that women dying, and those who will suffer
agonizing pain for the remainder of their lives are barred from
seeking
legal recourse through our court system." For this reason, explains
Joan
Huffman, Executive Director of La Jolla based Research Update, they
have
sponsored Assembly Bill 1609, which recently received an affirmative
vote
from the Senate Judiciary Committee. "Women harmed by breast implants
deserve access to the court system."
"Silicone Science" like "Tobacco Science" can rage in controversy for
decades. And just like tobacco, the evidence is the victims and their
failed health. They know now what science may not figure out (or admit
to)
for years. With insurers such as Blue Cross/Blue Shield denying
benefits
to "women with a history of implants," this is a public health
catastrophe
in the making. And the tax payer, as always, will have to pick up the
tab.
May Ovid rest in peace.
Ilena Rosenthal İ1997
www.BreastImplantAwareness.org/
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