In recent months as breast implant related illness is gaining more public awareness and media attention, plastic surgeons are coming out swinging. We are a threat to their gravy train practices.

The plastic surgeons objecting the loudest are invariably on manufacturer payrolls.

A blog post by plastic surgeon, Dr Lisa Lynn Sowder, was brought to my attention this week. It’s well written and I felt she’s sincere, but it reflected the defensive position taken by most plastic surgeons in regard to breast implant illness. They don’t believe it exists except through psychosomatic manifestation.

From her blog:

Dr Sowder starts her blog post writing that in 2016 she removed implants from 44 women; more implants than she put in. Twenty-seven women had them removed for non-medical reasons, while 17 believed they were ruining their health. Later in her post she says that most, but not all of her patients recover after explant.

Breast implant removal is on the rise, while breast augmentation using breast implants is decreasing. I’m happy to read more of her patients had their implants removed than were implanted. This should tell her something.

Dr Sowder continues, saying she’s given the topic of breast implant illness ‘a lot of investigation and thought’ and highlights her 25+ years of practice. She recently presented a paper on breast implant illness for the Northwest Society of Plastic Surgeons.

She then gives a brief history which includes breast implants coming under scrutiny in the early 1990’s for their alleged role in causing autoimmune illnesses, including lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. This led to silicone breast implants being taken off the market (though they continued to be implanted over the next 10 years through studies, of which she was an investigator).

She mentions Dow Corning claimed bankruptcy as a result of a class action lawsuit, with a seeming insinuation that an injustice had occurred. Poor Dow Corning.  I’ve had a local doctor literally spitting mad as he expressed his anger that a good company was ruined for nothing. I suspect most doctors feel this way.

The class action of the 90’s caused Dow Corning to claim bankruptcy with bloody good reason! The Dow implants I had were deliberately ‘rebaked’ to make them appear normal, though they were knowingly defective. And then Dow created a committee whose sole purpose was to find and destroy damning documents. At least one key player from those early Dow Corning days has served jail time for commodities frauds.

At explant I learned my implants had been recalled, but I was not notified.

Approximately four hundred thousand women joined the 90’s class action law suit, which included other manufacturers besides Dow Corning. Doctors tend to believe these women were mostly opportunistic, money-grubbing fakes vs having been genuinely harmed by their implants and seeking justice.

Continuing with her account of the history Dr Sowder states that gel implants were re-approved in 2006 after ‘exhaustive analysis’ of many implant studies.

In 2006 silicone breast implants were ‘conditionally’ re-approved, with manufacturers having to complete long term studies.

She seemingly doesn’t realize that the trials she refers to in the 1990s were skewed and stopped at 6 years, which is precisely when most women started presenting with complications. Women who’d had their implants only 6 months to 3 years were included in study results! The studies didn’t include the types of autoimmune illness women were developing.

Many had no idea they were even part of a study. Those that were followed up on weren’t followed long, and if they presented with complications they were dropped from the studies. The exact same scenario is playing out with studies since 2006.

Breast implants were not reintroduced to the market because they were found to be ‘safe’ after ‘exhaustive analysis’. They were reintroduced amid much conflicted opinion and because scientific studies had failed to conclusively prove a link to autoimmune illness. At the same time it had not been proven there was no causal effect of autoimmune illness. Breast implants have NEVER been proven ‘safe’! They were reintroduced to the market in 2006 as a continuing experiment, using unwitting guinea pigs.

Finally something we can agree on, Dr Sowder says she always found it odd that through the 10 year moratorium gel implants were available for post-mastectomy patients. If they were deemed unsafe for a healthy woman, how were they ok for patients with a history of cancer?

I couldn’t agree more. If breast implants are not safe for a healthy population they sure as hell aren’t safe for women with breast cancer! This was a blatantly callous, inhumane experiment, using a demographic they believed would die anyway. When my sister-in-law was going to get implants after mastectomy two doctors told me it didn’t matter, she’d be dead within 5 years anyway. Sickening. I wonder did Dr Sowder speak up about her concerns with cancer patients getting implants unsafe for a healthy population?

She writes also that she found it odd F.D.A. didn’t recommend removal of gel implants that were deemed unsafe for use.

Again, I agree. If breast implants were removed from the market for being potentially unsafe HOW was it OK to leave them in millions of women that already had them! And again, I wonder if she spoke up?

She then fast forwards to the past few years when she’s been seeing women convinced their breast implants are ruining their health. She describes a demographic younger than her average breast implant removal patients, and makes the observation that they ‘tend to embrace alternative medicine and distrust the medical establishment’. They all, according to her, are part of online breast implant support forums.

She states she finds it odd that ladies claiming a list of symptoms related to their implants all look so healthy and want to know when they can get back to their regular physical activities after explant.

Given she’s a medical doctor it’s unforgivable that she’d doubt someone being genuinely ill based on how ‘healthy’ they look. I’ve had friends diagnosed with terminal stage 4 cancer that looked the picture of health. It is a stunning contradiction that this is the case, but it’s common and as a medical doctor she should be well aware of this fact. I find this an irresponsible and calloused comment.

IF doctors had BELIEVED I was as ill as I truly was in the top photo instead of leaving me till I was weeks away from dying HOW DIFFERENT my prognosis could have been!

From there she goes on to say that the symptoms women present with are vague and common to other things, like menopause, hypothyroidism, depression, anxiety, and general aging – as though this diminishes the legitimacy of the symptoms we all experience once ill. She quotes Dr Marcia Angell, former editor of the New England Journal of Medicine: “These much discussed but elusive disorders remain entirely speculative .. they are variously said to consist of just about every symptom imaginable in biologically improbable and shifting combinations. Since they have yet to be objectively and consistently defined, it is impossible to study whether they have anything to do with breast implants.” She recommends Dr Angell’s book, ‘Science on Trial: The Clash of Medical Evidence and the Law in Breast Implant Cases’.

Though she quotes Dr. Marcia Angell I believe she’d find her of a different opinion now since realizing that the ‘science’ used in the study of breast implants is corrupted. Dr Angell subsequently wrote a book entitled, ‘The Truth About Drug Companies: How They Deceive Us and What to Do About It’.  When she authored the afore mentioned book on science and breast implants she was seemingly convinced with the integrity in science. “There were some prominent scientists which wrote there wasn’t evidence for illness. But, today there is more and more evidence, that COI’s influencing science. And sadly, authorities all over the world are still referring to conflicted science.” (Quote: Meldpunt Klachten Siliconen)

Cigarette smoking creates symptoms that could be consistent with other illnesses; it’s only through the acceptance that smoking is harmful that cigarettes are suspect when a smoker presents with such symptoms.

Many things can cause autoimmune symptoms. THIS does NOT negate breast implants making women sick in this way. It was confirmed that my onset of autoimmune type symptoms coincided precisely with the point of rupture of my silicone gel implants.

I was literally on death’s doorstep when I was explanted but, nobody realized until I was opened up. My surgeon confirmed that if I’d not been explanted at that time I likely wouldn’t have made it to another surgery date. ALL of my blood labs were normal range. Until my explant doctors determined I had somatization. My health is permanently ruined (though many things have improved or resolved since explant). My surgeon told me my prognosis is poor. Don’t even try to tell me it was not my breast implants that made me ill.

It took decades for admission that cigarette smoking and asbestos are harmful. People in those industries, as well as those that profited from them, engaged in the same tactics used by those with vested interests in breast implants and their use today.

THE JIG IS UP!

 We’ve reached a point where it’s pretty hard to ignore the reality that breast implants make women ill. We now have our photos and scan results that prove the impact of implants in our body.

The wrong standard of measure is being used to determine breast implant related illness! The tests my doctors relied on were inaccurate 100% of the time!

Dr Edward Melmed, is a plastic surgeon that no longer implants women and has presented to F.D.A. about the dangers of breast implants. “All these women from all over the world didn’t say, “You know what? Let’s tell the same story.”” (Quote: Dr Ed Melmed)

Women around the world have become ill with the same exact symptoms since breast implants were introduced in the early 60’s. No coincidence. Doctors that deny the reality of breast implant illness are starting to look really foolish given all of the evidence surfacing that proves implants are really bad for one’s health. There’s too many of us to sweep under the rug.

In a full out statement of arrogance Dr Sowder writes, “If a patient goes to enough alternative health providers, they will eventually find one willing to take their money to tell them that they have one, two or more of these disorders and that it’s their implants that are at fault.  They may even offer $50,000 worth of testing and treatment (as reported by one of my plastic surgery colleagues). I have one patent who saw seven naturopaths before she found one who told her what she wanted to hear. Did she ever go at an actual rheumatologist for her autoimmune symptoms?  Of course not.  She could not trust a rheumatologist.”

How arrogant to implant toxic devices into women, placing them over vital organs, and dismiss them as head cases when they present to her, ill!

Western medicine doctors happily made money from years of office visits and diagnostic testing. Women with breast implants cost the health care system four times the average. And yes, I’ve put some doctors’ kids through college in 16 years of being misdiagnosed!

I laughed out loud reading that we should trust medical doctors that don’t believe us because they went to med school! Oh right!! Sure, the doctors that missed 16 years of undiagnosed rupture .. and 19 years of a bone infection .. and 5 years of hypothyroidism .. and 3 agonizing years of acute inflammation in my bladder due to a systemic fungal infection .. riiiiight!!! The doctors that had NO CLUE I was on death’s doorstep until they opened me up in my explant surgery! The doctors that missed my son and best friend had life threatening conditions and treated them as though they were drug seeking!

Alternative practitioners, those to-her-estimation ‘quacks’, kept me alive until explant as ALL of my western medicine doctors had dropped the ball! Being ‘med school educated’ doesn’t mean one isn’t ignorant. In fact it’s that very ignorance that blinds doctors to the truth of breast implants. They’re too caught up in defending a STORY that doesn’t hold up. Not all doctors come out of medical school as critical thinkers – they can come out brainwashed sheep. There are good doctors of course, and not saying she’s not a good doctor, but too many are unthinking sheep. Ones blinded by an agenda are the worst.

Doctors that didn’t believe my symptoms could have been related to my implants missed 16 years of undiagnosed rupture … to my great peril.

Western medicine has lost its way and could learn a lot from alternative practitioners. Integrative doctors are absolutely the best, IMHO.

According to Dr Sowder she regularly visits breast implant illness websites, Facebook groups and Instagram, and finds much of the content outrageous. She says she has patients that only decided they were ill from their implants after visiting these online communities. Though having stated that most of her patients improve after having their implants removed she questions why some have their implants removed but, remain ill for months or years, as though it evidences that it wasn’t their implants making them ill to begin with.

Those of us that don’t improve after explant often have silicone in our lymph system and elsewhere; myotoxins; biotoxins; and exhausted, confused immune systems, just to name some contributing factors that impede restored health. There can be issues that do take years to resolve, and some that will never resolve. The silicone within us continues to migrate and we will suffer consequence for the rest of our lives.

A Dutch woman in her 50’s that knew she was dying and believed it was her implants killing her donated her body to science for the reason of finding out what her implants had done in her body. Despite the fact that she did NOT have rupture silicone was found in virtually every part of her body, including her vital organs. HOW is it even possible that regulating bodies are getting way with licensing these high risk devices that can, and DO, leave silicone in us that cannot be removed. It’s truly unthinkable. And probably criminal.

Posthumous testing of women that had, or have breast implants at the time of death, should be offered to anyone who wants to do it. Our families deserve to know the truth.

Dr Sowder is annoyed that women who are not medical doctors are giving advice, and that “there is the dismissal of surgeons like me who spent their youth training in medicine and surgery (I completed my residency training at the tender age of 35), took the Hippocratic Oath and devote most of their waking hours doing their best to provide competent and conscientious care to patients.  I take it a little personally when someone is more receptive to the advice or opinion of someone on Facebook who posts photos of themselves having a coffee enema that to the advice of a fully trained and experienced plastic surgeon.”

Though doctors have taken the Hippocratic Oath I can assure you it doesn’t apply once a patient becomes a medical liability.

If it wasn’t for women in breast implant support forums that walked this road before me I’d unquestionably be DEAD. It really says a lot that we have to find the medical information we need in forums because doctors haven’t got a freaking clue about breast implants.

Please don’t insult the intelligence and intuition of women harmed by breast implants!

Dr Sowder apparently gets ‘cranky’ thinking about women, like myself, that would like to see breast implants banned.

I get cranky that anyone can even attempt to deny that breast implants are ruining women’s health. To be approved the risk / benefit ratio must favor benefits over risks, but this is NOT the case with breast implants. The risks far outweigh benefits and they can have fatal consequence. There are no real benefits from implants. They are a temporary distraction from the deeper inner work that one ultimately needs to do, and they come at a very high price in every way.

I get cranky thinking of the manufacturer ‘fox watching the hen house’ funded studies which have been skewed from the start.

I get cranky knowing that if not for ‘hands deeply in pockets’ there’s NO WAY breast implants could be still on the market.

I get cranky knowing that silicone is getting into our lymph system.

I get cranky that so many have lost their health to these ‘safe’ devices.

I get cranky that we have ALL been UNWITTING GUINEA PIGS.

She believes breast implant technology has improved, but does acknowledge that breast implants can cause problems such as capsular contracture; displacement and distortion; pain; can leak or rupture; cause silicone granulomas of the breast, chest and abdominal wall; calcification; acute inflammation; and BIA-ALCL.

I’m glad she acknowledges that breast implants do cause problems.

But, newsflash .. breast implants today are based on the same 60-70 year old technology as older implants. Implant construction has in many ways become even more dangerous with the addition of other toxic chemicals, and textured surfaces. Each tweak to breast implants results in hundreds of thousands more unwitting guinea pigs. And FYI, many women are walking around with black market silicone in them because manufacturers resorted to street suppliers as demand for breast implants increased and their approved suppliers couldn’t meet demand.

I wonder did she report adverse events when women presented with capsular contracture, calcification, necrotized tissue, silicone in lymph nodes, and other complications?

Or, did she report adverse events when women presented to her believing their implants were making them sick even if she didn’t believe them? Though reporting is NOT MANDATORY it would be very valuable information. A doctor’s judgement call should be irrelevant to the reporting process. And she should encourage her patients to report their adverse events also. What a different picture would be presented if ALL adverse events had been reported since breast implants were introduced in the 60’s. If ALL adverse events had been reported breast implants would be BANNED OUTRIGHT!

She says “if a woman has breast implants she will likely need an implant related procedure sometime in the future.” As breast implants are time-limited devices ALL breast implants WILL FAIL at some point. No ‘likely’ about it. Unless a woman dies she WILL require at least one surgery to remove or replace her implants. It conflicting messaging to say ‘likely’.

She talks of placebo effect in having breast implants removed, and says some women fret every day about the effect of their implants on their health. She admits she doesn’t know if women become well after explant from placebo effect or the source of their worry being removed, or if it’s more than that.

She acknowledges the presence of inflammation. (It’s an acute inflammation specific to silicone in breast implants.) Breast implants can trigger both regional and systemic inflammation which absolutely has negative impact on health. And it hurts! She’d bloody fret too if she was loaded with inflammation.

Patients that fret everyday have become aware they’ve got TOXIC devices sitting within 2-3 cm of vital organs. And the vast majority know their implants are making them ill. Many so ill we knew that our very life depended on removing our implants!

She says she gets all, or as close to all, of the scar capsules as she can. Does she offer ‘enbloc’ removal? I don’t know, but every single plastic surgeon should be doing this. It’s ridiculous that most implanting ps’s aren’t skilled at properly removing breast implants.

She writes that patients don’t come crawling back to her sick, yet to her own admission some actually do, but they are dismissed as NUTS – psychosomatic illness. Remember the 17 that presented to her in 2016 believing their implants were ruining their health?

In general most women don’t return to their PS when they’ve become ill. They usually present to other doctors as they try to figure out what’s making them ill. They’re typically punted from one in-denial doctor to the next. They don’t end up back in a ps’s office until the connection to their implants is made and they want / need them removed.

Breast implants impede quality of life and lead to loss of health; they shave years, even decades off of our lives. Women with breast implants are playing Russian Roulette and the doctors defending the safety of breast implants need to take a sober look at how they’ve become so blinded. Breast implants are a massive experiment that has FAILED.

EVERY SINGLE WOMAN IMPLANTED HAS BEEN A HUMAN GUINEA PIG and we are entrusted to the care of doctors that have put their faith in skewed, manufacturer funded study results. Most in fact have been ‘bought’ by manufacturers. WE ARE THE STUDY RESULTS! It’s actually really scary knowing that doctors can’t comprehend that toxic devices over vital organs are a REALLY BAD PLAN.

Link to Dr. Lisa Lynn Sowder’s original blog post:  http://www.sowdermd.com/blog/breast-implant-illness/

Hello Everyone,

 This is my picture and here is the story that goes with it!

 I got implants in 2014 as a result of a double mastectomy. The doctors all told me they were so safe! I immediately started having brain fog and couldn’t concentrate. I didn’t think much of it; I had been through a lot.  But, I continued to get worse and worse, and then I started to have severe fatigue and trouble sleeping at night. Again, I made no connection to my implants. I started gaining weight and couldn’t lose, though I’m pretty lazy these days.

 A year and a half after I got my implants my dogs had a fight and I picked up my 40 lb puggle to break up the fight. I felt a pull and a pop, and my whole chest felt like it was on fire!!!

 I called the surgeon who basically, in not so many words, told me I was crazy – saying ruptures are silent –  how could I know I had rupture! He went on to tell me people get into car accidents and don’t ruture.

 So I was persistent and went to the surgeon’s office the next day. Same story. I’m crazy. I pulled a muscle or tore scar tissue. They went on making me understand I was in no danger to live with a ruptured breast implant anyway, so nothing to worry about. I believed them.

 I went on with my life.

 Two months later I was very ill. All of a sudden I had asthma, sinus infections and upper respiratory infections. Four months and four rounds of antibiotics did nothing! I could barely get out of bed! I could no longer lift my arms to brush my hair or put on make-up. I couldn’t stand or sit without being in pain. I had blurry vision, I was dizzy, my hair was falling out. Headaches daily. I started to get rashes. I saw doctor after doctor. Blood work after blood work gave no explanation! Doctors wrote me off as crazy. They said there is nothing wrong with me?? I started to believe I was crazy! I honestly had days I thought of dying – just ending it all. Not being a burden anymore. If it wasn’t for my daughter I’d probably be gone. So I just kept fighting. I saw several plastic surgeons who told me they wouldn’t remove my implants without putting new ones in. That was definitely not what I wanted! I eventually found a wonderful doctor named, Dr. Brian Buinewicz, out of New Jersey, who took on my case. I explanted on December 30, 2016.

Immediately after surgery I could feel the difference. He told me my one implant looked like it exploded inside me!! Made sense as to why I got so sick after I thought it ruptured. I am about 3 weeks post-op and the only symptoms I have left are the body aches and pains (fibromyalgia). I still have hope in time it too will go away.

Whoever is reading this please think twice before getting implants. They are not safe!

** Breast implants were Allergan Natrelle 410 cohesive gel **

We will not be silenced !!!!! FDA / Health Canada / MHRA there is no putting out this fire .. DO THE RIGHT THING WITHOUT FURTHER UNNECESSARY HARM TO WOMEN!!!

When doctors write articles promoting breast implants and discrediting sick women .. FOLLOW THE MONEY TRAIL!

I read an article on ‘The Rheumatologist’ website called, ‘Assessing Autoimmune Disease Symptoms in Silicone Breast Implant Recipients’, dated December 15, 2016. It’s written by Charles Radis, DO

If you’re a woman with breast implants, especially if you’re ill, it will likely be of particular interest to you. It offers insight into the author’s beliefs and the biases women with implants face within the medical community.

Dr. Charles Radis makes statements such as:

• “Mass somatization, I believe, was at the root of the silicone breast implant epidemic. A perfect storm of circumstances existed: A susceptible population of women, initial reports linking silicone implants to autoimmune disease, media hype & litigation lit the fuse of disabling fear & suffering.”
• “Milly’s story was extreme, but researchers have documented a number of differences between women who are seeking breast augmentation and the general population. In nearly every measure of psychological health, from low self-esteem, to depression, to frequency of psychiatric admissions, divorce and increased alcohol and cigarette use, in general, breast augmentation women differ from women who forego the procedure.”
• Munchausen syndrome and Munchausen by proxy
• “I am not a psychiatrist, but I know when I am in the presence of significant mental illness ..”
• One woman in particular, who I followed for the better part of four years, helped me understand the mystery of why silicone breast implant sufferers were more functionally impaired than my worst rheumatoid patients. The answer, I believe, goes to the heart and mind of who the breast implant patients were before they underwent breast augmentation.
• Milly, I think, got it. She began to see a therapist again and was diagnosed with recurrent post-traumatic stress disorder. Once she understood how anger, stress and uncertainty could feed into musculoskeletal pain, she was able to keep the symptoms from overwhelming her. She decided to keep the breast implants and joined a support group for depression. I suggested that she try to swim at the local YWCA, and six months later, she proudly announced she routinely swam 30 laps every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I wish I could say that her symptoms melted away. They didn’t. Even with exercise, counseling and medications, she was in that gray world of neither altogether well, nor entirely symptom free. But she was better.

Reading the article (reduced to a few key statements here, but you can read the full article by following the link at the bottom of this blog entry) understandably elicited a strong reaction from women who had become ill from their breast implants. Many posted comments on the website, but most of the comments were not approved, including mine, so a blog post it is.

The author presents as misogynistic, arrogant, willfully blind and possibly with hands in his pockets (there’s most often a money trail when breast implants are involved).

Apparently he considers patients with breast implants presenting to him with complaints of illness as ‘head cases’ – persuaded by others that their implants are what’s making them ill, but is really to his estimation somatization. And apparently he feels his insights so important as to inform his entire medical community (some of whom echoed similar beliefs in their comments).

His article highlights the way the medical system is gravely failing women with breast implants.

Radis writes, “ .. researchers have documented a number of differences between women who are seeking breast augmentation and the general population. In nearly every measure of psychological health, from low self-esteem, to depression, to frequency of psychiatric admissions, divorce and increased alcohol and cigarette use, in general, breast augmentation women differ from women who forego the procedure.”

WHY would doctors target a population of women they believe to be exclusively deficient psychologically to profit from them! WHY would they implant HIGH RISK DEVICES into women they’ve determined are ‘different from women who forego the procedure’, and allegedly have greater tendency toward psychiatric issues and poor lifestyle choices! ‘Nuts and sluts’ as one woman stated in her comment about the article (her full response, which was excellent, is included below).  

It’s truly the epitome of misogyny.

Are there women with depression, divorce, psychiatric hospital admissions, drinkers, smokers, etc., that get breast implants? Yes. Just like there are as many women experiencing them that don’t get implants. The author’s claims that women with implants lump into a group of psychologically deficient women smacks of ignorant, bigoted profiling, similar to racial, or any other form of profiling. It’s a reflection of his character, as he hides behind spouting study results.

Scientific studies report that there is a high incidence of psychopaths within doctors, but, we won’t go there.

Having mental health related issues and becoming legitimately ill are NOT mutually exclusive. To suggest women who have become ill from their implants are mentally ill is a truly horrifying theory. And to further suggest that all women who opt for breast implants are of questionable mental health and lowered moral status is outright shameful – especially as plastic surgeons are quite happy to take their money and implant them.

HOW UNFORTUNATE RADIS IS IN A TEACHING POSITION

Expressing this blanket belief, though no doubt rampant within the medical community, is truly inexcusable.

Radis offers a history of breast implants that includes the premise:

“By wrapping the silicone-filled product in an impermeable silicone envelope developed by Dow Corning, the surgeons hoped to achieve the look and feel of breast tissue without the risk of inflammatory reactions previous surgeons had experienced with direct silicone injections into the breast.”

Breast implants have gel bleed, high incidence of rupture and they ALL eventually fail, as they are time-limited devices. In the above paragraph it’s pointed out that the creation of breast implants was borne of trying to avoid the risk of inflammatory reactions experienced with direct injections into the breast. Yet, even with silicone encased in a silicone envelope women end up with silicone in direct contact with body tissue (including vital organs and distant body parts), and in their lymph system, which has the *same* result as silicone coming in direct contact through injecting it directly into the body. Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out, but it does take well-defended, willfully-blind doctors to deny this reality.

Breast implants wreak havoc in a woman’s body.

Breast implants contain heavy metals, known endocrine disrupters, neurotoxins and carcinogens, among other toxic chemicals; and they sit within 2-3 cm of vital organs.

There is an acute inflammation triggered within the chest wall that is exclusive to silicone in breast implants. The autoimmune responses and impact on women’s health are consistent among those with implants. Women since the introduction of breast implants in the early 60’s develop the same basic set of symptoms, including autoimmune type illnesses.

THEY ARE USING THE WRONG STANDARD OF MEASURE

Doctors are measuring illness experienced by women with implants against standards of measure that are NOT appropriate in this instance. If doctors use the wrong standard of measure they will NOT come to the correct diagnosis.

Women with breast implants who do receive a diagnosis of Lupus, and other autoimmune illnesses, often actually have silicone and chemical toxicity and other issues related to breast implants, including systemic mold and bacterial infections.

THE WRONG STANDARD OF MEASURE COMBINED WITH PACK MENTALITY IS A DANGEROUS MIX. Once a patient is misdiagnosed and labelled they’re lost to a medical abyss.

Every GP and specialist I saw through the 16 years I had undiagnosed rupture missed it. I passed all of their tests with flying colours. Of course again, they didn’t do the correct tests.

Failure to properly diagnose is not exclusive to women with breast implants. Biases and misjudgements run rampant within the medical community.

Pack mentality runs deep. It’s only that ONE caring, brave doctor open to stepping outside of the status quo that will discover the truth.

ONE brave young resident that broke from the pack led to diagnosing rupture and saved my life. I was within weeks, months at best, of dying – yet all of the other doctors believed I had somatization.

An even scarier reality is that often doctors just don’t want to get involved.

THE WRONG STANDARD OF MEASURE COMBINED WITH PACK MENTALITY IS A DANGEROUS MIX, BUT THOSE ELEMENTS MIXED WITH WILFULL BLINDNESS IS A LETHAL COMBINATION. (You can read another of my blog posts on my experience with being the victim of doctors’ willful blindness.)

COMBINE ALL OF THOSE WITH HANDS-IN-POCKETS .. A MONEY TRAIL THAT RUNS DEEP ..  AND GOD HELP WOMEN THAT HAVE PUT THEIR FAITH IN THEIR DOCTORS AND REGULATORY BODIES, AND BELIEVED THAT BREAST IMPLANTS WERE ‘SAFE’

GOD BLESS THOSE RARE INDIVIDUALS WHO BREAK FROM THE PACK

A comment in response to the article by a now retired Rheumatologist:

1. Frank Vasey says

December 22, 2016 at 1:01 pm

I am one of the 40 or so rheumatologists who became satisfied on the basis of their personal experience implants cause systemic disease still undefined. This was based on improvement in most patients post removal. Obviously not convincing to people who didn’t see those patients in large numbers. I saw 2-3 K over 30 years in Florida. I helped in the best outcome study of 100 pts followed over 2 yrs. It was not randomized or blinded, but the 1/2 pts who removed them improved on an appropriate Likert scale. The others worsened. Rejected by 3 rheum and one plastic J. Available at NYJSM on google silicone syndrome.

Bless Dr Vasey for speaking the truth. There are others that have also, though few and far between.

Some of the comments NOT approved on The Rheumatologist website in response to the article:

Nicole Daruda (of Breast Implant Illness and Healing By Nicole)

“Instead of shedding light that the chemical and heavy metal ingredients in silicone implants are toxic to our cells and body processes such as immune and endocrine (which science has already documented over and over) you would rather claim that millions and millions of women worldwide are experiencing a type of group Munchausens Syndrome?! Lol. I’m starting to think you have Stockholm Syndrome! Who is paying you to write this belittling garbage, could it be Johnson & Johnson the manufacturer of breast implants?? Let me spell it out for you. We know that silicone is a strong adjuvant and is used in vaccines for it’s ability to modify the immune response by boosting it and giving a higher amount of antibodies and also to modifying the immune response to particular types of immune system cells. Imagine the small amount of silicone used in a vaccine to provoke this response. Now compare that to two large, leaking bags of the same substance in your chest spreading silicone throughout your body on a daily basis. Of course there is going to be a reaction in the body! Of course there is going to be autoimmune symptoms and diseases! Further, we know that the chemicals in silicone are endocrine disruptors and negatively affect our endocrine glands and interrupt the hormones which fundamentally control the processes in our body. We know that silicone has close to 40 toxic chemicals and toxic heavy metals and that implants bleed, leak and rupture much sooner than anticipated and that these chemicals and heavy metals negatively affect our organs and glands causing toxicity, inflammation all sorts of symptoms and profound illness in us. It does not take a doctor’s degree to understand that two large bags of toxic chemicals that are known adjuvants leaking into the body are going to cause profound illness. Instead of admitting what is common sense you would rather insult millions of women worldwide with your “nuts and or sluts” theory. Doctors on implant manufacturers payrolls tried this same approach during the Dow trials, they tried to discredit this illness by labelling women this same way. We are on to you. We are not going away. We are gathering and we are educating. This article is a new low even for mainstream medical.”

Jan Spivey December 30, 2016 at 6:05 am Your comment is awaiting moderation. A few of my concerns Dr Radis: – D4 CAS 556-67-2 octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane is a repro-toxic endocrine disruptor chemical. Details of the effects of this chemical toxin were kept hidden by Dow Corning and exposed by lawyers in the Maria Stern case. – Other chemical toxins and carcinogens found in breast implants – Unknown raw materials and experimental manufacturing processes and labelling exemptions used by breast implant makers, protected by trade secrets legislation. – Increasing evidence of (i) biofilm contamination associated with implants, (ii) ASIA associated with implants (iii) cases and fatalities in patients from breast implant associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma (iv) patient & health professional adverse event reporting to FDA medical devices monitoring (v) quality of biocompatibility data on breast implants available to the FDA from manufacturers (vi) effect of Sunshine Act on research in this field Your article reads like tv-script without a likeable protagonist, in my opinion, Dr Radis. I am a cancer patient. I have a degree in Fine Art. I underwent major reconstructive surgery following breast cancer and mastectomy at 40yrs, received banned PIP implants, became extremely sick within 18months of implantation, had capsular contracture, waited almost 10years for a health professional to link all my problems to my implants. Co-founded a social network group for women with PIP implants. Listened to women with PIP implants. Conducted a health survey of women with PIP Implants. Believe women with implants. My mum is a well-balanced 77yr old – and thankfully in good health. It is a credit to all the other doctors who have commented here and international medical research that your views are not widely held by health professionals in 2016. Jan Spivey Co-Founder PIP Action Campaign

Comments approved:

1. Jamee Cook says

December 30, 2016 at 11:09 am

This was mine but wasn’t approved:

Breast implant “safety and effectiveness have not been established in patients with the following: • Autoimmune diseases (e.g., lupus and scleroderma)”. This is directly written in the product insert sheets. It should be a given that women are tested prior to implantation, but that is usually not the case. Breast implants have not been proven safe. The FDA “believes that approved breast implants have a reasonable assurance of safety and effectiveness when used as labeled”, not that they are 100% safe. They were put back on the market with the understanding that long term studies need to be completed. Many times women were discarded in studies when they had symptoms but no “defined” disease. According to Allergan on page 20 of their product insert sheet for NATRELLE® 410 Highly Cohesive Anatomically Shaped Silicone-Filled Breast Implants, “The study size needed to conclusively rule out a small risk of connective tissue disease among women with silicone gel-filled implants would need to be very large. The published studies taken together show that breast implants are not significantly associated with a risk of developing a typical or defined connective tissue disease.” It does not say that there is NO association. It says that the study size needs to be larger. According to the Mentor MemoryShape Product Insert Data Sheet on page 19, “The study size needed to conclusively rule out a smaller risk of connective tissue disease among women with silicone gel breast implants would need to be very large. The published studies taken together show that breast implants are not significantly associated with a risk of developing a typical or defined connective tissue disease.” Once again, they don’t rule it out, they only say that the small studies done don’t show a significant correlation. Even more trivial is the fact that many of these studies on these particular issues have been terminated – probably due to the fact that they have unrealistic numeric expectations to complete the study. Therefore, safety is not proven or disproven when addressing things like connective tissue disorders, neurological disease, brain cancer, cervical cancer, and lymphoma. Furthermore, the Allergan and Mentor labeling pamphlets actually list some of the symptoms that many women describe. “Literature reports have also been made associating silicone breast implants with various rheumatological signs and symptoms such as fatigue, exhaustion, joint pain and swelling, muscle pain and cramping, tingling, numbness, weakness, and skin rashes.” (same pages on both pamphlets). So even when a defined illness is not correlated, the patient can experience symptoms that correlate with autoimmune or connective tissue disorders. Then add on the fact that there is a direct correlation with Breast Implant-Associated Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma. It is a recognized diagnosis by the WHO, the FDA, the ASPS, the ASAPS, the UKAAPS, etc. Surgeons cannot deny the fact that implants can cause cancer. This disease is undertested and underreported. Surgeons need to stop telling their patients that these devices are 100% safe. Safety and efficacy has not been proven. France is questioning safety and threatening a ban. Women in the UK are asking for proof of safety. The TGA in Australia is being hit hard for proof of safety and efficacy. Women in the US are stepping forward and comparing stories. Canada is being hit for proof. A recent study comparing women in the Netherlands in 2014 who were sick from their breast implants to women at the Baylor College of Medicine 30 years ago showed that the symptoms were exactly the same. Despite innovation in breast implant manufacturing, the symptoms are still similar and still relevant. Explantation was the 10th most ranked cosmetic surgical procedure in the US in 2015 according to the ASAPS. We believe that 2016 will prove to be even more significant. It will eventually lead to a question as to why women are wanting their implants out. They are sick, frustrated, and tired of being ignored! We will not be ignored any longer. We are speaking out and we are making our voices heard.

1. Terri says

December 29, 2016 at 2:35 pm

I thank God that you are not my doctor, Mr. Radis. I’m horrified at the thought of you teaching future medical professionals.

o    Alyssa says

December 29, 2016 at 12:04 am

Thank you Dr Vasey for your contribution to our community. I was diagnosed with a series of autoimmune diseases and a heart condition (severe pulmonary hypertension) following the introduction of breast implants for reconstructive surgery at the age of 17. I was ill within months for a total of 9 years until both the implants and scar capsules were removed. I have recovered fully and have enjoyed my prior excellent health for the past 6 years largely thanks to doctors such as yourself and the women who have recovered before me.

You can read the full article here:

Assessing Autoimmune Disease Symptoms in Silicone Breast Implant Recipients December 15, 2016 • By Charles Radis, DO

http://www.the-rheumatologist.org/article/assessing-autoimmune-disease-symptoms-silicone-breast-implant-recipients/#comment-171309

A book I highly recommend and consider a ‘must have’ in my library: ‘Breast Implants and the D.I.R.T. Committee’, by Gail Hamilton.

When my rupture was diagnosed I turned to the internet to find out if there were others that had also experienced complications with their breast implants. I was feeling completely alone and afraid. I needed to connect and I needed information.

I soon discovered that I was one of millions and that there was a dark history of corruption and fraud within breast implant manufacturers. GREED being the bottom line, NOT the safety of women. Women have been used as unwitting HUMAN GUINEA PIGS since the early 60’s.

I was told about Gail’s book. It was highly recommended so I purchased it, and I’m so glad I did!

In her book, Gail, manages to brilliantly weave together her own personal journey through having failed breast implants, the resulting devastation to her health, and the shady, even criminal, history of Dow Corning, the manufacturer of her implants.

In the 90s there was a major class action lawsuit brought against breast implant manufacturers. Dow Corning was named in the suit. In a despicable act of deception which mirrored their despicable activities manufacturing and selling breast implants, Dow created the D.I.R.T. Committee. The committee’s sole purpose was to find and destroy any damning documents that could be problematic in the law suit. Fortunately they missed some. Their dirty dealings were revealed despite their desperate measures to hide them.

Though ‘Breast Implants and the D.I.R.T. Committee’ focuses on Dow Corning,  the information is totally relevant today as key players from Dow went on to form other breast implant manufacturing companies, taking their trail of corruption with them. Some of them have served jail time for their criminal actions.

This is a relevant thread to this day.

FYI:  Through the class action lawsuit in the 90’s it was revealed that Dow Corning had deliberately falsified records about the breast implants that I had. They sold the devices knowing they were flawed and had a near 100% failure rate at the 5-6 year mark (which is precisely when mine had unknowingly failed). They were recalled, but I was never notified.

My copy of ‘Breast Implants and the D.I.R.T. Committee’ is heavily highlighted with coloured markers and notes in margins. I reference this book often. It’s such great information.

https://animoto.com/play/2L2gw2PKMUBqWyDXOr1FLw?autostart=1

Plastic surgeons tell women that cohesive gel breast implants are safe, saying they won’t rupture. Or, at least, have rare incidence of rupture. Women are told if rupture occurs, the silicone will be contained within the scar capsule. It won’t leak out.

The standard plastic surgeon schtick is to demonstrate a ‘gummy bear’ implant being cut in half, supposedly proving their claim that the silicone will remain in place in the event of rupture. They fail to qualify that once placed in a human body, it will not maintain that consistency.

Breast implant support forums are filled with women whose ‘gummy bear’ implants ruptured. Photos of their explanted ‘gummies’ evidence that claims made by many plastic surgeons are not accurate. They downplay the risks; incidence of device failure; and the possibility of silicone migration.

In a previous post, I included a picture of a ‘new, safe cohesive gel’ implant that clearly depicts ruptured silicone escaping the scar capsule around the implant. Its worth posting again. Women with these implants regularly have silicone in their lymph nodes and surrounding tissue – even without rupture.

It’s hard to fathom the motivation for plastic surgeons to perpetuate untruths that are leaving unsuspecting women at risk of serious health complications. Women have a right to be FULLY INFORMED of the risks for these dangerous devices. Health Canada  designates breast implants as Class IV medical devices, their highest risk category. I’ve met thousands of women with cohesive gel implants that ruptured, causing serious health issues. Not one woman said they would have chosen to get them if they’d known the truth.

Women with breast implants can look ok from the exterior, but inside their chest wall ‘out of sight, out of mind’ it’s another story. It can look pretty gnarly in there.

These explanted ruptured breast implants look bad enough visually, but the destruction within this woman’s chest wall would be a sobering sight! Especially after 25 years.

Common issues include calcification, acute inflammation, necrotized tissue, capsular contracture, nerve damage, milk duct destruction, infection (bacterial/viral/fungal), bio-films, seromas, granulomas, silicone soaked tissue and/or lymph nodes.

When you see someone with breast implants I hope you will ‘see with awareness’ and have an understanding of what’s potentially happening inside.

There’s a new support group on Facebook for Canadian women harmed by breast implants.

From the pinned post: “The group offers support to Canadian women who have been impacted through having breast implants – those that still have implants and those who have already had them removed.”

Women with breast implants that have not yet experienced complications and/or illness are also welcome – all breast implants fail eventually so proactively seeking information can help women know signs of potential device failure.

It’s a ‘closed’ group so privacy is protected.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/553040228225793/

There are other larger, really great support groups on Facebook that I highly recommend – this one is mostly to rally Canadian ladies together. It’s really new so we’re still small, but growing!