There is a common misconception that with modern implants women are not at risk for complications around device failure. I hear the belief expressed that ‘they wouldn’t let that happen now’. This is a dangerous and erroneous belief.

There are many thousands of women globally who have experienced rupture, gel bleeds, and other health-busting complications with contemporary models of breast implants. The P.I.P. scandal alone is estimated to have impacted 300,000 women globally.

Let me reiterate (from an earlier FYI), Health Canada and the FDA have assigned breast implants their highest risk rating because they have known issues and a high incidence of device failure. In conversations with Health Canada they have openly conceded this truth.

Let me also reiterate that EVERY woman implanted since 2006, when Breast Implants were ‘conditionally’ approved for use in Canada and the U.S.A., is a GUINEA PIG. They are part of a 10-year study to determine IF breast implants are safe. There are countless women who have experienced device failure.

And worse, the actual follow-up rate of women implanted since 2006, till now (and supposedly included in the studies), is *very low* beyond the first year. As in past studies, the results will be skewed and not at all reflective of the actual degree of device failure and breast implant related illness.

The FDA and manufacturers recommend that women with breast implants have an MRI after 3 years, and every two years subsequently. The outside ‘life’ of an implanted breast implant is 8-10 years; but, it is noted *even on the Mentor website* that devices can fail earlier. I know women who have experienced problems within months of being implanted. Complications within the first 2-6 years are common.

If any woman is going to be implanted in the future I hope it would not be a result of the erroneous belief that ‘they wouldn’t let that happen now’. Oh, believe me, they would, and it does!