‘MAKE GOOD TROUBLE’ LETTER WRITING CAMPAIGN (Regarding: Migrated Silicone and zero industry accountability): LETTER TEMPLATE
PLEASE NOTE: This template is specific to Canada, but can be changed as needed to address any country’s regulating body.
LETTER TEMPLATE INSTRUCTIONS:
This letter TEMPLATE is intended to make it easier for ladies with migrated silicone to write to their country’s regulatory authority to demand that the issue of migrated silicone cannot be ignored.
It could also be adapted for those not already diagnosed with migrated silicone, but feel this is an important issue and want to call for improved safety / protection for women with breast implants. While this letter deals specifically with migrated silicone, ALL breast implants have the same silicone shells that also bleed chemicals into women’s lymph nodes (and elsewhere).
You must copy/paste the template content to your own personalized document.
PLEASE READ THE TEMPLATE CAREFULLY as there are fields (highlighted with a yellow background) where you’ll have to add your personal information and if needed, change fields that make it pertain to a specific regulatory authority.
Where is says ‘(regulator name)’ please add the name of your country’s regulatory body (FDA / Health Canada / MRHA, etc). Where it says ‘(citizens)’ please change it to refer to the citizens of your country (ie: ‘Canadians’ / ‘Americans’, etc). Where it says ‘(country)’ please add your country’s name. PLEASE DO NOT INCLUDE THE ‘BRACKETS’.
Regarding ‘Adverse Events Reporting’ please note there are TWO options. PLEASE CHOOSE ONLY ONE. ‘I have previously filed an Adverse Events Report. ** OR ** ‘I have not yet filed an Adverse Events Report, but plan to do so’.’
Note: If you haven’t already filed an adverse events report we STRONGLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU DO. If you’re from Canada or another country other than the USA, you could report to your country’s regulatory authority and also to FDA.
Link to report medical devices Adverse Events in Canada:
Please feel free to change or add anything you want to include in your letter that isn’t included in this TEMPLATE.
Once you’ve sent a letter(s) we encourage you to leave a comment below indicating that you have done so.
LET’S DO THIS!
In the words of the great civil rights activist John Lewis (now deceased), let’s make ‘GOOD TROUBLE’ in calling for regulatory and industry accountability in regard to migrated silicone.
It is a crime against women to have allowed this to go on so long. Claiming they don’t know the impact of migrated silicone after nearly 60 years is NOT ACCEPTABLE. We must stand up to this injustice.
Women who have been implanted with ‘silicone gel breast implants’ often end up with silicone in their lymph nodes and migrated to other places, including vital organs.
After nearly SIXTY YEARS industry still claims the long term impact of migrated silicone is ‘UNKNOWN’, yet they refuse calls to study women that have migrated silicone. Over decades migrated silicone has been empirically documented. There is plenty of scientific evidence that exposes the harms denied by industry and REAL WORLD EVIDENCE demonstrates that migrated silicone causes illness, pain and death.
Manufacturers, regulatory bodies, and doctors have been telling women that breast implants are ‘SAFE’ while women with migrated silicone are being harmed and discarded. As they get sicker, women with migrated silicone are left without answers and without medical help.
In order for such avoidance of accountability to have continued this long industry, regulators, lawmakers and doctors are, so to speak, ‘in bed with each other’. There can be no other plausible explanation
CLAIMING ‘THE LONGTERM IMPACT OF MIGRATED SILICONE REMAINS UNKNOWN‘ at the expense of human health is NOT ACCEPTABLE.
The ‘BREAST IMPLANTS – MAKE ‘GOOD TROUBLE’ CAMPAIGN‘ calls for accountability and answers.
I encourage those with migrated silicone to WRITE LETTERS to your country’s regulator (‘FDA / HEALTH CANADA / MHRA’, or whichever other is your country’s regulator). Phone them too. Keep writing and phoning until you receive the answers you deserve.
Also write and call your lawmakers and politicians – Regional and Federal.
Ask them ‘WHERE do you go to get help?’. Ask them ‘WHO CAN HELP YOU and WHAT CAN BE DONE?’. Ask them ‘what your LONGTERM PROGNOSIS is‘. Tell them ‘I DON’T KNOW’ is NOT ACCEPTABLE!
If you don’t have migrated silicone, but this is still an important issue to you, please join in writing a letter. A violation against one woman is a violation against all women. A violation against women is a crime against humanity.
The time for accountability and answers is long overdue.
If you’re considering getting silicone breast implants ask the plastic surgeon what can be done if you end up with migrated silicone. Don’t stand for them denying or minimizing the risk or incidence. It happens, and it happens often. ALL BREAST IMPLANTS HAVE GEL BLEED. ALL BREAST IMPLANTS WILL FAIL WITH TIME. Breast implants sit in close proximity to vital organs and lymph system. Silicone and chemicals can cross the blood barrier. Denial and minimizing is NOT an answer. It’s a ‘slight-of-hand’ non-answer from a sales person pitching you a device they’ll profit from implanting in you.
PLEASE JOIN in calling for REGULATORY and INDUSTRY ACCOUNTABILITY.
Qualifying comment: I want to acknowledge that the great Civil Rights Activist, JOHN LEWIS (deceased), who spent his life advancing human rights, coined the phrase “GOOD TROUBLE”.
In calling for regulatory and industry accountability in regard to migrated silicone, and to end this injustice against women let’s now make ‘good trouble’.
Posted at 6:17 pm by motherima, on November 21, 2020
When Michelle Sheets got smooth saline breast implants she never fathomed they would lead to her being diagnosed with a rare, deadly cancer that she’d gotten from her implants. She was never told that breast implants could cause cancer, only that breast implants were ‘safe’.
When she was was 8 months pregnant Michelle was diagnosed with Breast Implant Associated – Squamous Cell Carcinoma (BIA-SCC).
The cancer wasn’t in her breasts, it was in the scar capsules that had formed around her breast implants. Cancer was found in both implant capsules. One capsule had a 4 inch by 2 inch tumour that was stuck to her sternum, ribs and back.
Michelle’s daughter is now 14 months old.
In recent days Michelle reached out for prayers that she would live long enough for her daughter to remember her. Michelle is facing another surgery because she’s experiencing pain in her sternum and ribs, in precise locations where there had been tumour adherence. Michelle is optimistic, but understandably concerned.
Two years is the life expectancy with her cancer and its now been 19 months since Michelle’s diagnosis.
Worldwide there are 7 cases. Four have died. Two Michelle isn’t sure of their outcome.
Breast Implant Associated – Squamous Cell Carcinoma is considered ‘very rare’ at this time with so few known cases, however we suspect such low stats reflect lack of testing vs true incidence. We believe as they begin testing for BIA-SCC diagnosed cases will increase. It’s likely women have died from Breast Implant Associated – Squamous Cell Carcinoma without ever having been diagnosed.
As with Breast Implant Associated – Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma, a few years ago women were being told they’d have a better chance of being struck by lightning – or even a meteor – than get BIA-ALCL. However, once they started testing for it cases began climbing sharply, with new cases now being diagnosed weekly.
Despite what she’s going through, and indeed because of what she’s going through, Michelle Sheets wants to raise awareness about Breast Implant Associated – Squamous Cell Carcinoma.
No matter what type of surface, textured or smooth, breast implants can and do cause cancer. Michelle’s implants had been replaced multiple times, but she only ever had smooth implants.
With Michelle’s cancer, at least so far, there’s a poor prognosis.
If you’ve got breast implants and have concerns, trust your gut. Don’t let a doctor dismiss your concerns. Many women are still being denied proper testing, and in fact many are laughed at by doctors when they express concerns about breast implant associated cancers. Doctors that behave in such a manner are uneducated regarding implant cancers and need to step up their bedside manner.
That said, panicking unnecessarily isn’t a good plan. Educating yourself about the risks and symptoms is important. Knowledge is power.
If you have breast implants and develop unusual symptoms, including sudden swelling, pain, itching, seroma (fluid), redness, hardness, lumps / masses you should seek medical attention. Symptoms of BIA-SCC can be similar to symptoms of BIA-ALCL.
Pain and swelling led to Michelle having a diagnostic ultrasound, which revealed she had a 6cm tumour in one breast, and 1cm in the other. A biopsy confirmed cancer.
Qualifying comment: ** Based on her personal diagnosis and the life-threatening outcome it presents, Michelle takes a stronger position than what I’ve expressed. She adamantly encourages removing implants BEFORE symptoms occur. With Breast Implant Associated – Squamous Cell Carcinoma once there are symptoms she believes “it’s too late.” Her wish, of course, is that no other women will be faced with her diagnosis. **
I really ‘get’ why Michelle feels as she does. I’m simply gutted for her and for the women who have yet to receive diagnosis of a breast implant related cancer.
Ultimately I respect everyone’s right to make their own choice. I encourage women to research and decide what your own personal comfort level is with removing implants, or not.
A message from Michelle, in her own words: “This may not matter to you now because it does not effect you, but it is coming. Ten, fifteen more years, there will be a surge of rare, aggressive, deadly cancers. Then, maybe people will start paying attention to this bullshit right here. And to be clear, I have replaced my implants as recommended. I have paid top dollar, top surgeons. You will NOT escape this. I even had top dollar saline implants. Explant with an explant specialist This might save your life. Do not wait until you have symptoms. It will be too late then. Love your body. Love yourself.Save yourself. I am not a rare exception to some rule. I am one of the first is all. It is not survivable. It is around 10 grand for these explant specialists.Don’t say you cant afford it. Your life is worth much more. Find a way. You found a way to.put them in.These are facts I learned in my own almost 2 years of diligent reaearch and phone calls. Spread this far and wide. My life matters!!”
Posted at 4:58 am by motherima, on October 29, 2020
Seven years ago today I had my badly ruptured Dow Corning silicone gel breast implants removed.I’d had them for twenty-three years. I woke up from my explant surgery SO RELIEVED that my implants were out. I didn’t want to die with those god-forsaken toxic devices within me. They’d caused so much suffering and took me to deaths’s doorstep.
My explant date is more important to me than my birthday! I know that every year I keep saying that, but it’s as true today as it was 7 years ago. I can’t begin to express the joy I felt immediately upon waking from surgery knowing the implants were out. EVERY SINGLE DAY I feel grateful they’re out of me!
BREAST IMPLANTS ARE A TOXIC ILLUSION. Breast implants don’t make us beautiful or more of a woman, they make us sick.
Spare me the ‘not everyone becomes sick from implants’ spiel. It’sBS. Whether illness or permanent physical changes from surgery and/or having implants NO ONE gets out of having breast implants unscathed.FULL STOP. It’s a matter of what, when and degree .. and IF you’ve yet connected the dots.
Removing my implants saved my life, but longstanding rupture caused irreversible harm. The irreversible harms include (but are not limited to): lung impairment, acute 24/7 pain, silicone filled breast lesions and masses, silicone filled lymph nodes, free-silicone which has escaped my breasts and migrated deeply and extensively within my chest wall (and goodness knows where else).
Even if a woman has extra capsular rupture it’s still so critical to remove the implants. At least the bulk of silicone will be gone. There will be less silicone in you that can migrate. It can prevent getting to death’s doorstep ‘sooner than later’, or save your life if you’re already there.
And so today I CELEBRATE that the toxic mess depicted in pictures included with this post is out of me !!!!!!!!!
FYI #1: DO YOU KNOW that despite silicone breast implants being implanted in women since the early 1960’s there is STILL NO LONG TERM SAFETY DATA!
In 2006, after a 10-year moratorium breast implants were conditionally re-approved, contingent on manufacturers creating studies that would show long term safety.
Given the deadline for manufacturers to prove longterm safety wasn’t met IMHO ALL SILICONE BREAST IMPLANTS ARE NOW NON-COMPLIANT DEVICES.
Despite this, women are still unwittingly being used as HUMAN GUINEA PIGS. Except, in a lab experiment scientists are actually tracking results. In this experiment no one is keeping track. You’re a human guinea pig, but not told you are and till now no one’s really given a proverbial sh*t.
At best, ALL breast implants bleed silicone / chemicals and at worst they fail with an often catastrophic outcome to the wearer. Silicone is NOT INERT.
The industry refuses to study those of us with migrated silicone though WE HOLD THE TRUTH OF SILICONE. Well, more likely they refuse to study us ‘BECAUSE’ we hold the truth of silicone. We represent decades of data. WE ARE SWEPT UNDER THE RUG.
THE TRUTH OF BREAST IMPLANTS IS BURIED WITH US.
HOW IS IT THAT after nearly SIXTY YEARS manufacturers and regulators are getting away with saying the long term impact of migrated silicone remains UNKNOWN, when they have made ZERO EFFORT to study women harmed!
Note: It is my goal to have studies created that include women harmed.
FYI #2: DO YOU KNOW that it’s illegal to inject silicone directly into a human body because of the consequences to health, including death. Breast implants were created to contain silicone gel within an outer shell (shells are also made of silicone). This is an industry ‘slight-of-hand’. The industry KNOWS FULL WELL that at best the shell merely minimizes or slows down silicone migration, but doesn’t stop it. Millions of women have migrated silicone in them despite the false narrative that the ‘new ones’ don’t leak. Free-silicone within a body is free-silicone regardless of delivery approach – whether through being injected or having leaked from breast implants.
FYI #3: The Industry has never taken responsibility for the harm silicone causes within a human body.
My dear friend Gail Hamilton wrote a book called, ‘Breast Implants and the D.I.R.T. Committee’. When Dow Corning was facing a class action lawsuit in the 90’s they created a committee whose task it was to FIND AND DESTROY incriminating documents.
When hundreds of thousands of women claimed their implants had made them sick and caused migrated silicone the breast implant industry didn’t take responsibility. They tried to sweep the women, along with the damning documents under the rug. They still sweep us under the rug.
FYI #5: FDA Hid hundreds of thousands of reported Adverse Events
In 2019 an ICIJ investigation and the work of Madris Tomes exposed that FDA had hidden hundreds of thousands of adverse events reports, which included serious harm and death.
Posted at 1:31 am by motherima, on September 25, 2020
THIS ANNUAL MEMORIAL HONOURS WOMEN GLOBALLY who’ve lost their lives because of Breast Implants and injectable materials; long-time advocates; and women whose implants may or may not have definitively factored into their death. Just being a silicone sister is enough. If they were part of our community we want to acknowledge them. This year, 2020, marks its third observation. September 25th, the date chosen is the actual death date of BETTYE CAROLINE YALLER, but it’s representative of ALL of our fallen sisters.
‘REMEMBERING FALLEN ANGELS OF BREAST IMPLANT ILLNESS‘ was created for the sake of those within the BII community, though hopefully, it will raise awareness outside of our community as well. Included in this blog post are a small number of personal stories; anecdotal tidbits; various ways Breast Implants can impact mortality.
Bettye Caroline Yaller’s doctors were unfamiliar with BIA-ALCL. By the time Breast Implant Associated Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma (BIA-ALCL) was diagnosed it was too late to save her. Her daughter, Vikki Radow, has become a strong advocate for getting her mother’s story out. Vikki Radow: “She had breast cancer 30 years prior — she was a breast cancer survivor. Due to the cancer, she had a mastectomy and implant placed in. She had many implants in and out over the course of 30 years. Her first symptoms were:Rash around her breast with the implant, shortness of breath, pains in the implant, swollen lymph nodes, fluid around the implant and chest cavity, a mass on chest wall. They could not figure out what all these symptoms meant. Test after test after test — she quickly started to die. Was put on a ventilator and was given her first dose of CHOP chemo while on ventilator — she was finally diagnosed with ALCL from the implant. But it was LATE in the game for her. She had 6 rounds of CHOP, the implant was never removed and she died on the operating table while trying to get it out. They resuscitated her but her heart, lungs etc were toast after all the chemo etc. She died within weeks on Sept 25, 2012. In fact, it was 5 years ago today I took her to the hospital and she never returned home. I’m still in shock.”
Vikki Raddow said that when she had heard the F.D.A. reported nine deaths from implant-associated lymphoma, “I said, ‘Oh, my God, my mother was one of those nine.”” Bettye’s story was featured in a New York Times article May 14, 2017, written by: Denise Grady. We are grateful to Denise Grady for creating some awareness around the issue. Link to the New York Times article here.
REMEMBERING LONG TIME ADVOCATES
Adella Matthew, founder of ‘Implant Awareness Society’, was a long-time advocate from British Columbia, Canada. Her husband, Richard Matthew wrote a beautiful tribute to his beloved Adella:
My wife, Adella Matthew, was an exceptional woman. She devoted her life and, in spite of her own health challenges, always found the time to assist other people, whether for implant related problems or for those requesting her help as an energy practitioner. She never received the help or recognition that she deserved. She spent many hours on the telephone and the computer with people and assuring them that their problems were real; many told her, “Adella you saved my life”. She preferred the telephone because typing emails was hard on her arthritic hands.
Adella was one of the founding members of the I.A.S. Implant Awareness Society and served as the president from the society’s inception until she passed away on 2018 December 27 at the age of 88. She worked hard to get the society established as a charity. The society and the website will remain as long as I am alive.
I am sure there are hundreds of people who will miss Adella almost as much as I do. She suffered a lot of pain in the final months of her life but did not give up until the pain became too much to endure; she began to say that she was ready to die. A good friend suggested to me that she was just waiting for my permission to go. On December 27, I confirmed with her that she was ready to depart this world and then I told her that she had my permission to go to her Heavenly Father. This was very difficult for me.
When I left her around 3:45 pm, I kissed her goodnight, told her I loved her, and said I would see her the next day; she nodded her assent. Around 5:00 pm that evening, I received a call from the doctor saying that Adella was failing. I thought he was talking about days or maybe weeks. At 7:00 pm I had another call from the nurse looking after her that night, she said, “I think Adella is passing, I can still feel a pulse but I think she has stopped breathing”. A minute later she said, “oh, she is gone”. This happened only a bit more than three hours after I had left her. In the end, thankfully, she went quickly and peacefully.
In closing, I would just like to paraphrase a line from Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
I say this with love, admiration, and respect:
Goodnight sweetheart, may bands of angels sing thee to thy rest.
Lynda Roth died June 17, 2010 metastatic breast cancer Lynda Roth Founder and President of Coalition of Silicone Survivors, a Non-Profit Organization. Lynda testified at the FDA numbers times and helped put on conferences in Australia, Europe, Canada, and the U.S.
Rogene Lorene Schorer was a strong advocate for breast implant survivors lobbying in Washington, DC.
In 1982 PJ Brent was implanted with Double Lumen implants, which contained both silicone and saline chambers. After becoming ill from her implants, and believing they also caused the two children she’d breastfed after getting them to become ill, PJ launched a worldwide crusade against implants. She testified at the FDA hearing on saline implants. She also appeared on CNN Headline News, as well as in newspapers, radio, and Redbook magazine. She was so well loved 1,200 people attended her funeral. PJ’s husband, Ed Brent, testified at FDA after his wife’s death.
Cindy Fuchs-Morrissey underwent a bilateral mastectomy at 35 after three silicone-gel sets to correct a deformity. Her first set in 1976, at age 18, were a birthday present from her parents. After being diagnosed with Stage 4 metastatic cancer, Cindy wrote: “ .. cancer is NOT the worst thing that can ever happen in life .. being exposed to failed silicone gel breast implants still was far worse for me than dealing with stage 4 cancer. I AM NOT KIDDING. .. the Art of Medicine failed me in my youth and continues to fail, not just me, but humanity and the generations to come.” She passed away in spring 2016.
Lana was an advocate for people injured by Silicone Hypersensitivity. She strived to help as many people as possible suffering from damage caused by allergies to Silicon medical implants and prostheses. She battled pharmaceutical companies and manufacturers, and created videos for YouTube called, ‘Immune Response to Silicone‘ and ‘Silicone Immune Response‘. Misty Davis-Branscum (Lana’s daughter) wrote: “My mother Lana Merriam passed away from illnesses due to her breast implants in 2014. Her life was cut short at just 56 years old. She was very loving, caring, strong, and a no-nonsense type of woman. When she realized she was ill she spent every day trying to understand what was happening to her and why. She wanted so badly to get her story out there to try to educate people, and try to help women who were suffering from the same issues. She did everything she could to fight the things that were happening to her body, unfortunately when they discontinued the only lifesaving inhaler she could use, she lost her long battle.”
Joyce Attis founded Breast Implant Line of Canada, a National support and self-help group for women who have had silicone gel breast implants. Madeline Boscoe and Anne Rochon Ford, of Canadian Women’s Health Network, wrote a great tribute to Joyce: Tribute to a Fighter: S. Joyce Attis “The movement to raise public awareness in Canada about concerns associated with breast implants lost one of its most hard-working and committed advocates recently. Joyce Attis, known to many as the voice for breast implant victims, died in Toronto on November 25, 2010 .. (follow the link to read the full tribute).
“Lori Dobson, one of our original support group leaders in Canada ..” (quote: Joyce Attis, deceased)
QUOTE FROM TRACE: “It’s with a heavy heart that I must post this, but we’ve lost another dear friend Amanda Boudreau on Oct 29. AMANDA was one of the most unselfish women I knew. She was concerned more with the needs of others than her own personal health struggles. She was a giver and a fighter. She had more love and kindness than she let on for others to see. I know many gals in this group had the fortune of knowing her and we will all miss her. She was truly one of a kind.”
QUOTE FROM RANDY SHAIN (STACY’S BROTHER), written on the first anniversary of his beloved sister’s passing: “Today is 1 year since you left us. I still can’t believe it’s been a year. I think about you every day and every night. My world has been forever changed without you in it. Keep watching over us Stacy Shain. Until we meet again. Your book is almost finished- once it is, mom and I will get it out to everyone who is suffering from breast implant illness….just like you wanted. Always caring for others more then yourself. Maybe with your book, we can prevent them from going through what you did. Love you, Randy”
The book Stacy was writing before her death was completed posthumously by her Mother and brother. The first paragraph in the book starts out “if you’re reading this that means I didn’t make it.” The book titled, ‘A Mother’s Nightmare’ is in the final stages of publication.
Susan R Scott’s daughter wrote: “By the time this illness killed her, she had suffered from virtually every symptom on the list. I know my Mom would want to use her life to save others.”
My name is Jordana Edwards and I am now the voice for one who’s voice can no longer be heard. My mother. Like many women who got breast implants my mother hated having a flat chest, she felt that she wasn’t a women without large breast, hated that she had to buy clothes from the children’s section, the irony is that as she got sicker she again had to buy clothes from the kids section as she had gotten so tiny. I cannot remember exactly when my mum started to get sick, I do remember it was a gradual thing, back ache here, unusual bruising there. But as it began to progress I began to do more and more for mum. The doctors of course never mentioned that her symptoms could have had anything to do with her implants. Gradually my mum, who would get up at 4am to go to her job of exercising race horses, come home and get my then step brother and myself ready for school, would go to her full time day job, go back to the race horses after that, come home and get us dinner then go to her waitressing job simply couldn’t do it anymore. Somehow mum heard about the problems women were having with their implants and realized that this was happening to her as well. She joined the class action against Dow Corning and Bristol Myers Squid, with thousands of other Australian women. The amount of research my mum did was staggering, and what she found was horrific – the toxic chemicals that made up the silicone that was now coursing through her body was terrifying. The class action was successful but what the Australian women won was nowhere near what American women won, but no amount of money would make up for what mum had no lost. Her independence, her health. She finally got them out, and that in itself was a ordeal in itself as the first doctor cancelled 3 times, mum then rang the hospital that put them in and demanded they take them out. It was closing the stable door after the horse had bolted – both implants had completely ruptured and the silicone was all through her body. Nothing was going to reverse what had happened now. By the time I was 18 I was my mothers full time carer, something that was to continue until I was 38 when I simply had nothing left and couldn’t care for her any more and put her into full time care, the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make. Mum had: rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, lupus, sjogrens disease, fibromyalgia, bruised easily, chronic fatigue, hair loss, weight loss (she was 35 kg) and many other aliments. The hospital had three large folders on mum. In late February 2015 the care facility mum was at rang me to say that she was not well, hard to wake etc. I went there as the doctor was coming to see her and he said the words I’d be dreading her time was coming to an end. Mum had fought so hard and for so long, had stared death in the face so many times and told it to f#%* off. Now, she embraced it. The constant pain, a broken body were just too much. Watching my mother in her final days was beyond heartbreaking, she wasn’t aware and didn’t know we were there. For once my love and strength couldn’t help her. We were told it could take a week and so I went to work, I got the call that it was happening from my aunt and I raced to her, breaking the speed limit. But I was too late. Mum passed away seconds after my aunt called me. Going in and seeing her lying there just about destroyed me. And in the nearly 3 years since I lost her I’m still trying to find myself in a world without my rock; I have no husband, no children (caring for mum meant that never happened). If mum knew of someone who wanted breast implants she’d tell them her story and I don’t know of an instance that it didn’t convince them not to go through with it. I miss my mum more than anything in this world, I was robbed of her my breast implants. It if I can use her story to talk someone out of breast implants I will, and I have.
From Adella Mathew: Ivana had two sets of silicone implants, the first set at 29 years of age. When she died Easter Monday 1996, she was 52 years and 9 months old. Her advice to all women who have implants, or are contemplating getting them, is: “Nobody can be truly well with implants, love yourself for the way you are. Your creator has given you a beautiful body; please don’t you and your doctor try to improve it. Breast implants are very toxic and they are the greatest insult we can give our body.”
From: Adella Matthewhttp://implantawareness.com ‘We will always remember Ivana Buchar; Karen Gates, Cleo Bara, along with Clara Schimpf, our secretary, Ann Gage-Cole our Vice President. None ever reached 60 years of age. Ricky McAndrew was 70 years old when she passed in 1996. These six women will always be remembered. Their suffering and pain are acknowledged; they have not died in vain.’
Alain Matz, Candi’s husband writes: In a word, Candi was selfless. No matter how how terrible she felt, physically or emotionally, her light had never shone brighter than when she helped other people pick themselves up. She didn’t want sympathy, she didn’t want pity. She wanted to help others smile. And she did. Lisa will be remembered for her gentle spirit and loving nature. She was always so positive and used to say, “Never forget how far you’ve come. Everything you have gotten through. All the mornings you just didn’t want to get out of bed, but you did.” (quote: Rita Giorgio-Masson)
Stacey Phelan Olson, Ashley Jade’s sister, writes this message: My beautiful sister who battled BII for 25+ years. 💔 It’s been four years since she laid down (because she wasn’t feeling well, again) and never woke up. At 5’7” she was down to a 90lb warrior. I watched her battle like hell year after year after year. She wouldn’t wish that on anyone. I hope reading her obit changes even ONE young woman’s mind. 🦋 I only wish we’d found this group, she would have been totally validated!! And had support other than me, my dear sweet husband, our daughter and a few dear friends. Too many friends and even family abandoned her out of frustration and misunderstanding. She would have gladly donated her body for medical research on implants, had it ever occurred to us. She would have done that for you, and me and every woman who thinks she isn’t perfect just the way she is. 💔🌹🦋 (Note: The group Stacey is referring to is a Facebook group: Breast Implant Illness and Healing by Nicole. It has 50,000+ members.)
From Rosanna Smith (Rosie) Implant~Info~Net: Mary died from an autoimmune disease related to a breast implant she got following mastectomy, in 1998.From Rosanna Smith (Rosie) Implant~Info~Net: Pam worked hard to ensure other women were informed about the risks, pain and suffering of breast reconstruction surgeries.
In 2019, at the time of this memorial event, there were 792 cases, worldwide with 33 deaths.
STATS FOR 2020: FDA’s website reports 733 cases and 36 deaths. ASPS stats in April 2020 reported 903 cases. As of September 2020 the ASPS stat has increased to 953 cases and 36 deaths.
The BIA-ALCL landscape is changing nearly daily. Though BIA-ALCL is said to be a ‘rare’ cancer, now that they’re testing for it, if you chart incidence on a graph it shows a sharp trajectory upward. The term ‘rare’ has been changed to ’emerging’.
It should be noted that it’s suspected BIA-ALCL is under-diagnosed and under-reported, and that there have been many women that have died from BIA-ALCL without having been diagnosed. As more women are being tested there has been a significant spike in cases globally.
Edwidge Ligoneche, of France, died from ruptured PIP implants and BIA-ALCL
From Sherry’s sister, Tina Marie Hedrick: Sister, Daughter, Mother, Wife, Friend. Mcghann Textured Saline implants… BIA-ALCL. Diagnosed with ‘Rare T-Cell non-Hodgkins Lymphoma’ Christmas of 2007. Chemo, Radiation, stem cell transplant with implants STILL IN PLACE. Died Valentine’s Day 2009.
(See Bettye Caroline Yaller’s Story above)
Paulette Parr – died 10 months after being diagnosed with BIA-ALCL
BREAST IMPLANT ASSOCIATED -SQUAMOUS CELL CARCINOMA
Though BIA-ALCL has received more media attention and has more diagnosed cases there are multiple Breast Implant Associated cancers, including ‘Breast Implant Associated – Squamous Cell Carcinoma’
One can only imagine how many cases and deaths have gone undiagnosed because women weren’t being tested for it.
It should be noted that although BIA-ALCL is associated with textured breast implants with no confirmed cases with smooth implants, BIA-SCC has been dx’d in women with smooth implants.
Though historically women have been implanted and left for years, or even decades, without follow-up we now know that annual follow-up with a plastic surgeon is imperative, no matter what surface implants one has.
If you have breast implants and develop unusual symptoms, including sudden swelling, pain, itching, seroma (fluid), redness, hardness, lumps/masses you should seek medical attention. Symptoms of BIA-SCC can be similar to symptoms of BIA-ALCL.
SUICIDE
THERE IS ANINCREASED RISK OF SUICIDE WITH BREAST IMPLANTS
PJ Brent took her life on Memorial Day, May 29, 2000 .. she was 49 years old. Autopsy showed she had Platinum in every organ in her body. The level in her brain was so high a doctor said, “I don’t know how she was able to function.” Ed Brent, PJ’s widower, shares his wife’s story in hopes that it will prevent other deaths.
PJ’s Obituary dated June 2, 2000:
PJ’s husband, Ed Brent, testified at an FDA hearing. In his testimony he said his wife had committed suicide two months after testifying at a previous hearing on breast implants. She believed that silicone from her implants had seeped into her breast milk and sickened her two children. He said the children she had breastfed before the implants are healthy. “P. J. felt terrible guilt that her two daughters had been so seriously harmed by her decision to get breast implants.” The two children PJ breastfed with implants also had high levels of Platinum. One daughter at age 3 was diagnosed with esophageal motility disorder; the other daughter has Crohn’s Disease. Both are in a wheelchair. Ed Brent, said PJ was a WONDERFUL mother and put her kids above everything else. (Ilena Rosenthal’s Memorial for PJ Brent ..)
2020 – OUR BII COMMUNITY HAS GRIEVED MULTIPLE SUICIDE DEATHS IN RECENT YEARS
MORTALITIES FROM BREAST IMPLANTS
Some women have died from events confirmed as being related to breast implants, such as complications resulting from surgical procedures andBreast Implant Associated Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma. Most women, however, have died without a connection being made. Just as there’s denial within the medical community around Breast Implants making women sick, there’s equally lack of awareness or acceptance around their impact on mortality. Outside of known BIA-ALCL cases it’s fair to say most women that have died from Breast Implant related issues probably slipped away with the role their implants played being undiagnosed.
Even when the cause of death seems perhaps unrelated to Breast Implants, they can play a contributing, yet unrecognized role.
MANY WOMEN WITH IMPLANTS spend years or even decades feeling like they’re dying. If intervention doesn’t come soon enough, they are left clinging to just ‘this side of death’. Some end up dying before receiving the care necessary to save their life. And, for some the endless suffering leads them to take their life. Even when breast implants are removed the impact of residual and migrated silicone impacts health, quality of life, and mortality.
The road to DEATH IS OFTEN A SLOW, PAINFUL, QUALITY-OF-LIFE-ROBBING DECLINE. Often decades of robbed health and vitality as the immune system struggles to fight off the toxic, foreign invaders.
THE IMPACT OF BREAST IMPLANTS ON HEALTH IS STILL LARGELY UNACKNOWLEDGED BY THE MEDICAL COMMUNITY.
If not for the information and support women find in BII (Breast Implant Illness) forums the death toll from implants would surely be much greater.
NICOLE DARUDA (Breast Implant Illness and Healing by Nicole, on Facebook): “If we had listened to our doctors telling us that our illness is not from our breast implants, eventually some of us would have lost our life or much of what was left of it.”
BREAST IMPLANTS – A MASSIVE FAILED EXPERIMENT with WOMEN as HUMAN GUINEA PIGS
“The silicone breast implant fiasco is a sad case of corporate indifference and regulatory mismanagement.” Ted Weiss (D-N. Y.) House Subcommittee Chainnan New York Times, 312019 (Qualifying comment: PLEASE NOTE we are not calling for a ban of all breast implants.)
THE ROLE OF REGULATORY BODIES AND HOW THEY’RE FAILING TO PROTECT WOMEN
BREAST IMPLANTS ARE ASSIGNED THE HIGHEST RISK RATING BY REGULATING BODIES, YET … THERE IS NO STANDARD PROTOCOL IN PLACE FOR DIAGNOSING OR TREATING BREAST IMPLANT RELATED ILLNESS AND DEVICE FAILURE, and RELATIVELY FEW DOCTORS ARE TRAINED TO PROPERLY REMOVE IMPLANTS
From hidden adverse events reports to the refusal to disclose ingredients in breast implants regulators protect manufacturer interests. Regulatory bodies globally have acted as agents of manufacturers vs champions of patient safety. Profit over safety vs safety over profit.
In 2020, despite hopeful progress and recent FDA acknowledgement of symptoms / illness reported by many women with breast implants , there is still for the most-part resistance – even push-back – within the medical community. Women are still frequently hung out to dry medically and must turn to social media platforms for information and support.
SERIOUS AUTOIMMUNE ILLNESSES & TOXICITY THAT CONTRIBUTE TO DEATH
WHEN BREAST IMPLANTS CAN CAUSE A POTENTIALLY FATAL CANCER OF THE IMMUNE SYSTEM it’s not a far leap that they can, and DO wreak havoc on the immune system. The truth can no longer be denied. Breast implants have killed women and will continue to do so until, and unless, manufacturers and regulatory bodies start telling the truth and take steps to better protect women undergoing breast augmentation with Breast Implants.
Breast implants contain known carcinogens, endocrine disrupters, neurotoxins and heavy metals. They sit within 2-3 cm of vital organs. Silicone, and the toxic chemicals it contains, often migrate to surrounding and distant tissue, lymph nodes, and organs.
Silicone used in breast implants causes an acute inflammation specific to breast implants.It is a completely man-made inflammation. The role chronic inflammation plays in developing cancer is well documented.
POSTHUMOUS TESTING – #STUDYUS
RESIDUAL SILICONE AND MORTALITY
Regulatory bodies and manufacturers refuse to #StudyUs – women adversely affected by breast implants. Women included in manufacturer-funded studies that report complications or illness are dropped from studies. In 2018 it was finally publically revealed that manufacturers have failed to fulfill the conditions placed on them when breast implants were conditionally re-approved in 2006. THERE IS NO LONG-TERM SAFETY DATA. If they want to know the truth we’re right here, willing to participate – but, it seems evident their avoidance of including us is a clever ploy to avoid having to admit the truth. Women harmed through having breast implants should have the option of being followed through studies with NO FINANCIAL TIES to those profiting from implants. We should be followed after our implants have been removed and autopsies performed posthumously (for women who choose this option) to find the truth of where silicone has gone within us, and it’s impact on our health. IF regulating bodies actually wanted to know the TRUTH this would be done routinely. However, they don’t want the truth getting out, so they BURY the truth with us. RESULTS OF A WOMAN’S AUTOPSY: “Annalise (not her real name) decided she would not die in vain. The Dutch resident suffered for years with pain and a host of strange undiagnosed symptoms before contracting the breast cancer that would eventually kill her. Before her death at the age of 56 in 2008, Annalise decided to donate her body to medical science to find out the truth about why she’d developed cancer. Dr Ruth Kappel, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon in Zwolle, The Netherlands, led the pathology team that dissected the body. Through special instrumentation using light and electron microscopy and X-ray analysis of the body’s internal organs and nervous system tissue, the key to Annalise’s suffering stood starkly revealed. She’d had breast implants 17 years before, and the silicone had migrated throughout her body, even to distant organs—her ovaries, her thyroid, her bladder and throughout her spinal cord. In fact, silicone was everywhere in every tissue tested—and in unusually high amounts.” (Excerpt from Boob Jobs Busted, by Lynne McTaggart – June 2016 (Vol. 27 Issue 3)
Silicone was found in virtually every part of her body despite her implants not being ruptured. She was impacted by Gel Bleed, which is particularly significant as all breast implants bleed toxic chemicals into women’s bodies. Despite Breast implants being used since the early 60’s REGULATORY BODIES and MANUFACTURERS say they don’t know the long term effect of migrated silicone in the body. IT DEFIES BELIEF THAT THEY’VE GOTTEN AWAY WITH THIS FOR SO LONG! The NEWSFLASH is that WE KNOW ALL TOO WELL what it does to us – it makes us ill and it kills us! GEL BLEED and RUPTURE OF SILICONE BREAST IMPLANTS investigated by Light
SILICONE in Breast Implants is NOT inert. NOBODY GETS OUT OF HAVING BREAST IMPLANTS UNSCATHED – ITS A MATTER OF DEGREE. TOO MANY WOMEN HAVE LOST THEIR LIVES TO THE HARMS OF BREAST IMPLANTS.
Manufacturers and regulatory bodies that deny the truth and refuse to #StudyUs will cause more needless deaths. They must include Real World Evidence in regulating decisions. Women losing their lives shouldn’t be anecdotal.
WOMEN ARE TOLD TILL THEIR DYING BREATH THEIR IMPLANTS HAVEN’T IMPACTED THEIR HEALTH (with the exception of BIA-ALCL).
Doctors that fail to properly diagnose women ill from Breast Implants may lead them more quickly toward their grave.
There is LACK OF SCREENING FOR POORER CANDIDATESwith pre-existing conditions or genetic pre-disposition to developing serious autoimmune illnesses that may impact health and mortality.
NOTHING HAS CHANGED SINCE THE EARLY DAYS, EXCEPT THAT BREAST IMPLANTS MAY BE EVEN DEADLIER THAN BEFORE
Women in 2020 who have experienced losing their health (and some their life), as a result of Breast Implants are saying the SAME things and have experienced the SAME symptoms as women since the early 60’swhen Breast Implants were introduced.
PJ Brent who later lost her life to suicide attended this rally. The other ladies are still alive. (Photo above)
Prior to the 60’s injectable silicone and other substances were used, with catastrophic consequences to women’s health. In the early 60’s SILICONE BREAST IMPLANTS were created as a way to contain silicone within the breasts. HOWEVER, all Breast Implants have ‘gel bleed’ and ALL eventually FAIL leaving women vulnerable to silicone migrating to lymph nodes, surrounding tissue and distant places, including VITAL ORGANS.
Each new tweak to Breast Implants has been spun to consumers as making implants safer, but has been just one more experiment using women as lab rats. The tweaks invariably presented new complications, some potentially fatal as in the instance of Breast Implant Associated Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma, which is linked to ‘textured’ implants. One can be sure that women have died from cancers caused by chemicals used in implants and migrated silicone throughout the history of breast augmentation.
INJECTING SILICONE DIRECTLY INTO BREASTS IS BANNED because of the known consequence to health and mortality. THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE on impact to health and mortality when silicone from Breast Implants ‘bleeds’ or migrates into the lymph system or other parts of the body.
For nearly SEVEN DECADES women who have been used as HUMAN GUINEA PIGS have been swept under the carpet as they’ve become ill, or died.
LINKS TO ONLINE STORIES – Women who died from breast augmentation surgery or complications from having breast implants: (Please note: Many of these sites have annoying pop-ups.)
FOR ALL WOMEN WHO HAVE DIED SINCE BREAST IMPLANTS AND INJECTABLE SUBSTANCES HAVE BEEN USED TO AUGMENT BREAST SIZE …
IN LOVING MEMORY OF OUR FALLEN ANGELS
If there is anyone you would like added to this Memorial please send their name, photo, birth and death date, and a few details of their story via email: breastimplantfailure@gmail.com
Thank you to ALL who shared stories and information. **Special thanks to Gail Hamilton for creating the memorial logo photo** **Special thanks to Dede Graham for all the help and support**
**Special thanks to Ed Brent for sharing his wife, PJ Brent’s, story. Our bii community is grieving the loss of too many of our sisters that took their own life to end their suffering. The issue of suicide with breast implants needs to be openly discussed and not swept under the carpet. It is a risk with breast implants and should be acknowledged**
**Special thanks to Rosanna Smith (Rosie) for generously allowing me to use information from her website, where she had her own wonderful memorial tribute to sister’s that have lost their lives after having breast implants. Rosie, of Florida, worked as a volunteer since 1993-2018 and has supported countless women on their journey toward healing. Rosie is in ill-health so has had to close her website: Implant~Info~Net.**
**We wish to extend remembrance to ALL who have lost their life after having any IMPLANTABLE MEDICAL DEVICE. We stand collectively in solidarity with victims of implantable medical devices and their advocacy movements.**
I’ve not been online for a while … a lot has happened in the time I’ve been away, including the creation of an international awareness campaign where ladies share their photo and story, with the caption, ‘I was harmed by breast implants’.
Most of you are already aware of my story so with my pictures instead of sharing my story in detail again I will say what feels even more pressing to me .. NOBODY GETS OUT OF HAVING BREAST IMPLANTS UNSCATHED. It’s a matter of degree and when.
I often see that even breast implant awareness advocates comment that not everyone that gets breast implants will become sick. That, IMHO, needs to be a broader conversation. It’s not just about becoming ‘sick’. It’s about the inevitable irreversible changes from surgery, and further breast and chest wall destruction that happens over time from breast implants. It’s about the harm being caused that might not be immediately recognized as ‘sick’. During the process taking place on the way to full out ‘sick’ women generally have no awareness of what’s happening within them. Some will fair better than others, but none will escape implants without some degree of harm – either physical destructive changes or illness, or both.
Anyone that has breast implants and thinks they’re sitting inertly in their body is mistaken. Misinformed. I was once in that mistaken and misinformed demographic.
Even after my implants had wreaked havoc with my health and taken me into the permanently harmed zone (though unknown to me till years later) I swore my implants weren’t making me sick. After all, my doctors, FDA, Health Canada and the manufacturer were in agreement that implants were safe and didn’t cause illness.
I was told my implants were state of the art – the newest, safest, greatest. My implants were recalled within a year of getting them, but I wasn’t notified. For over two decades I remained unawares and defended the devices that were unknowingly leaking silicone deeply within my chest wall and lymph system.
From the minute breast implants are placed the immune system launches into an effort to protect the wearer from them .. 24/7 … 365 days a year … at least until the implants are removed, and longer if there is residual silicone or other implant related harms that aren’t remedied through implant removal.
Breast implants sit within 2-3 cm of vital organs, including heart and lungs. Subtle respiratory changes are one of the most common early symptoms experienced by women with implants, though usually not recognized as being related to implants. If you have implants or are thinking about getting them, I encourage you to research. I support each woman in their own choice, but hope that through education and awareness everyone can make an informed choice.
You should know with certainty that harm from breast implants is inevitable and often irreversible.
** Thank you to the creators of this awareness campaign **
It’s time for an #AccountabilityCulture #DoTheRightThink #FDA #HealthCanada #InformedConsent #ALCL #NotOurDaughters #BreastImplantIllness #RealWorldEvidence #WeAreReal #WeAreNotGoingAway
For decades women getting breast implants have done so without being properly informed of the dangers. In fact, the dangers were downplayed or denied. Nearly every woman I know that has become sick from their implants, experienced device failure, or been permanently harmed said they had NO IDEAthe harm they experienced was possible.Most express that if they’d known the truth they would never have gotten implants.
‘Nearly’ is a very generous word choice. Out of the tens of thousands of women I’ve met online over the past roughly nine years I can count on one hand, and still have fingers left over, those who say they felt they had been adequately informed of the dangers of breast implants.
Even today .. in 2020 .. many women are still not being properly informed by plastic surgeons. This must change.
If you’re considering getting breast implants please read this Informed Consent document. Bring it to your plastic surgeon. No one should ever get breast implants without being FULLY INFORMED.
Hopefully the information in the informed consent document will prevent most from getting implants once they understand what they’d be getting themselves into. For those who’ve read this document and follow through with getting breast implants at least they will have done so with their eyes wide open.
Knowledge is POWER.
Would you get breast implants if you knew this could happen to you? It’s just one of the many ways breast implants can ruin your health and potentially leave you permanently harmed.
IF YOU’RE CONSIDERING GETTING BREAST IMPLANTS .. PLEASE DOWNLOAD, READ AND SIGN THIS INFORMED CONSENT DOCUMENT. PLEASE DO REVIEW IT WITH YOUR PLASTIC SURGEON.
SO YOU’VE BEEN PERMANENTLY HARMED BY BREAST IMPLANTS. NOW WHAT?
Technically, as things currently stand (and have stood for six decades) .. nothing. Nada. You’re S.O.L. (sh*t out of luck). Swept under the rug. Hung out to dry. Left to deal with the aftermath to your health on your own.
How is it that the breast implant industry has gotten away with not being held accountable for the millions of women they’ve harmed and/or killed? Without tracking us. Without following us in studies. Without admission. Without a commitment to cease harming more women. How have they gotten away with sweeping us under the rug for six decades? Why are they still getting away with it, unchallenged? How is it they are still able to claim that, after six decades, the long term impact of migrated silicone on health remains unknown?
Why has no one paid notice or cared? Where is the media? Where are the women’s health organizations? Where is the World Health Organization? Where is Health Canada / FDA / MHRA and other global regulatory bodies? Where are the politicians?
Why has there been no investigation into regulatory bodies and those in effect ‘paid to look away’? PEOPLE SHOULD BE IN JAIL.
Through the focus Breast Implant Associated – Analplastic Large Cell Lymphoma (BIA-ALCL) has received in the past few years and the sustained pressure from BII and BIA-ALCL advocates on regulatory bodies its led to a slow drip of recent articles and admissions suggesting there is an inflammatory response and that silicone isn’t as insert as once believed. And that the numbers of women impacted are staggering. None of it is ‘new’ information .. it merely reflects back to things known for decades .. to things buried and denied by the industry.
HOW HAS THE INDUSTRY BEEN ABLE TO GET AWAY WITH BURYING AND DENYING THE HARMS CAUSED BY BREAST IMPLANTS?How has the industry not been forced to follow the women they’ve harmed in order to continue receiving regulatory approval for their devices?HOW HAVE THEY BEEN ABLE TO BURY AND DENY REAL WORLD EVIDENCE?
Studies were created, but none that specifically followed women harmed. Once harmed, women were dropped from studies.
Why was mandatory reporting of harms not required until recently (Canada) and why is the scope of mandatory reporting so limited?It seems a deliberate design to fail. A way of avoiding disclosure of truth. An attempt to feign a desire and strategy to track breast implant failures and harm while having been designed to fail. (Just like every other industry study created to feign jumping through regulatory ‘hoops’ but, also designed to fail.)
In six decades there’s been no one within the breast implants industry or regulatory bodies capable of creating a successful study? No one who could figure out how to ascertain critical safety data? We can put someone on the moon, but no one can figure out how to create and execute a meaningful study? The mind boggles.
As an advocate and someone who’s been harmed by breast implants my key areas of focus moving forward are:
Creating studies that include life-long follow-up of women harmed, designed to both provide critical safety data and succeed in this intended goal.
What exactly does mandatory reporting look like / include and what so far has been the result? What data has been / will be collected and reported? And what’s being done with the data?
Industry accountability
If you’ve been permanently harmed by breast implants I would love to include your story as I push for studies to follow women harmed by breast implants. You can email me: breastimplantfailure at gmail dot com
Posted at 8:54 pm by motherima, on February 26, 2020
I’ve done previous posts on this topic, but it can be hard for visitors to my blog to find older ‘archived’ blog posts. This cautionary ‘buyer beware’ / ‘be an informed consumer’ topic is worth repeating.
When I made an appointment with a plastic surgeon to get breast implants, in some regards, I was pretty asleep at the wheel of life. I defaulted to blind ‘white coat’ trust. I unquestioningly believed the sales pitch the plastic surgeon gave me that though ‘older’ implants had problems, the ‘new ones’ were safe and would last my lifetime.
It would take twenty-three years (of which I spent 16 years in a declining health spiral that would take me to death’s doorstep) to realize I’d been duped, and that I’d been a naive consumer. When I discovered my implants were not only ruptured, but had leaked silicone irretrievably within me, for a brief time I felt like a fool. I was a complete health and fitness freak, but it was completely lost on me that I had toxic sacs of chemicals within me. I was completely unaware of the potential of silicone migration or the havoc it could wreak on my health.
To be sure, I’m not a fool and neither is any woman that has found themselves in a similar situation, harmed by implants.
Actual catalogue sales pitch for the ‘Dow Corning Silastic II’ implants I had:
The SILASTIC II Mammary Implant. High Performance, in a direct comparison with current competitive ‘low bleed’ products. Superior Low Bleed characteristics and Greatly Enhanced Physical Properties.
Independent testing to be the Superior Implant in the marketplace today! SILASTIC II Mammary Implant, High Performance, represents years of research by Dow Corning, the recognized leader in silicone technology, to produce a ‘State of the Art’ mammary implant. The SILASTIC II Mammary Implant, High Performance, is the best product to meet today’s needs!
* Superior Low Bleed Characteristics
* Greatly Enhanced Physical Properties
* Available only from Dow Corning Wright
High Performance Medical Grade Silicone Elastomer is available only from Dow Corning Wright.
In 1990 I paid $5,000 (plus, taxes and travel expenses) believing I was purchasing ‘safe’ breast implants that would last my lifetime ..
THIS is what I actually got:
I spent $5,000+ on breast implants that would be RECALLED within a year of getting them. Of course, I wasn’t notified.
Within 5-6 years my ‘lifetime’ breast implants catastrophically failed.
I spent 16 years sick and trying to find out what was going on.
**It should be noted that ‘experienced’ doctors and specialists didn’t figure out what was making me sick. It was a young ‘resident’ that saved my life. **
The shiny new implants women are shown when they’re being pitched the‘breast implants are safe’ spiel don’t look like that long once they’re placed within a human body. They only look ‘shiny and new’ sitting on a shelf or packaged nicely in a box, or in a slick media campaign photograph.
Most women will remain unaware for years, or even decades, that they were sold a product under false pretence, without having been fully informed about potential complications; and without awareness of what the implants are doing within them.
I think many of us, upon learning our breast implants failed AND/OR caused ‘Breast Implant Illness’ experience a brief period of feeling troubled that we allowed ourselves to be conned. But, truly even women who did exhaustive research into breast implants prior to finally deciding to get them ended up just as duped because of the fact that the truth of implants has been hidden. The dangers and incidence of harms and failures, concealed. It’s only been through women harmed that the truth is finally being exposed.
If you’re considering getting breast implants LET US BE YOUR CAUTIONARY TALE. So much information is available online now, and in Facebook breast implant illness support forums.
Please don’t fall for a slick sales pitch. There’s a lot of them, such as the ‘gummy bears don’t usually rupture, but if they do its not a problem’ lie .. the ‘saline is safer’ crock .. the ‘smooth implants are safe because they don’t cause cancer’ deceit .. the ‘breast implants are the most studied medical devices in the history of implantable devices’ misinformation ..
I could go on and on listing misleading ‘sales pitches’.
Don’t fall for ‘the new ones are safe’ sales pitch. The new ones are NOT safer. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A ‘SAFE’ BREAST IMPLANT. They ALL FAIL. They ALL have potential serious complications.
PLEASE KNOW that in 2020 all silicone breast implants are non-compliant devices based on the 2006 conditional FDA re-approval. And that there is NO LONG TERM SAFETY DATA on breast implants. EVERY SINGLE WOMAN GETTING IMPLANTS IS A HUMAN GUINEA PIG.
Posted at 7:06 am by motherima, on January 29, 2020
You can’t have a trial without witnesses and without evidence .. at least you can’t have a fair and honest trial that legitimately seeks truth without witnesses and evidence.
YOU CAN’T HAVE A STUDY THAT LOOKS AT LONG TERM SAFETY (THAT WILL RESULT IN TRUTH) IF IT EXCLUDES THOSE HARMED. And yet, for decades that’s exactly what the breast implant industry has been getting away with.
Thanks largely in part to the ICIJ investigation into implantable medical devices and the sustained efforts of Patient Advocates globally, breast implant safety is on trial once again.
In 2019, HEALTH CANADA reopened its review of breast implant safety. FDA has acknowledged that silicone is not as ‘inert’ (and breast implants aren’t as ‘safe’) as they’d once thought. Regulatory bodies globally have acknowledged what has come to be known as ‘BII’ (Breast Implant Illness).
The BREAST IMPLANT INDUSTRY has failed to adequately prove safety through previous studies which were flawed and driven through industry bias. The industry funded studies were, in fact, designed to fail. The industry has known, and hidden, truths that could have prevented millions of women being harmed. Instead of protecting innocent women from harm, their greed (and corruption) resulted in women not only being implanted with devices touted as ‘safe’ that had no long term safety data, but with implanted women subsequently being told the illnesses they were experiencing weren’t related to their implants.
It’s easy to keep claiming that ‘the long term impact of migrated silicone is unknown’ when the industry has deliberately avoided studying women with migrated silicone. Given the serious harms, some of which include: systemic illness; acute inflammation; silicone migration (to lymph nodes, tissues near and distant, limbs, vital organs including the brain and lungs); cancers; chronic acute pain; respiratory tract impairment; silicone granulomas; silicone filled lesions and masses; and being *permanently and irreversibly harmed* continued failure to study women harmed should lead to criminal investigation. People in the industry and regulatory bodies should probably be in jail, IMHO.
Without the evidence and testimony of women already harmed by breast implants it is IMPOSSIBLE to reach a truthful conclusion on breast implant safety.
Women harmed weren’t included long term in the safety reviews of the past decades, in fact they were dropped from studies once they reported either illness or device failure. There is NOT, nor HAS THERE EVER BEEN long-term safety data on breast implants.
We must demand the inclusion of ‘women harmed’ in long term studies currently being created and/or that will be created in coming years. We must demand the creation of independent studies outside the reach of the ‘industry’. WE MUST DEMAND THE CREATION OF STUDIES THAT BOTH SEEK TRUTH AND ARE DESIGNED TO ESTABLISH TRUTH.
Without the evidence women already harmed can provide it will needlessly and recklessly put further generations of women in harms way. Women already harmed represent 40+ years of critical data.
WE ARE THE STUDY RESULTS
I hope others will join me in DEMANDING THE CREATION OF STUDIES and JUSTICE FOR WOMEN IMPACTED ADVERSELY THROUGH BREAST IMPLANTS. To be clear, I don’t mean ‘justice’ in a litigious sense – I mean justice through at least making the harms we’ve suffered count for something. Justice through preventing needless harm to more generations of women by creating studies that will provide critical missing safety data.