More than 18,000 telephone calls have been received since our inception, which is a good indication of the need women have felt to seek help and discuss the issues surrounding both silicone gel and saline-filled implants.
In an initiative aimed at reaching a wider group than those on the phone or at our meetings, Breast Implant Line of Canada organized a panel of international experts in the field to speak at a National Breast Implant Conference at the Sutton Place Hotel, Toronto, in November, 1995. They shared their knowledge of serious health consequences of pain, illnesses, functional impairment and deformities which they attributed to implantation of silicone gel in the body.
Joyce Attis was appointed to the External Advisory Committee of the Breast Implant Cohort Study set up by Health Canada in Ontario and Quebec in 1996. This project, as it unfolded, went ahead without much involvement by the Committee and had disappointing results. However it did show that there was no higher incidence of cancer among implanted women.
As spokesperson for Breast Implant Line, Joyce speaks often to the implant issue through interviews on radio, television and in print media.
When Health Canada was considering the applications last fall of two silicone gel implant makers to re-enter the Canadian market, a public forum was arranged for Sept. 29/30, 2005, in Ottawa. The manufacturers were given a whole morning to make their case for bringing back implants before an Expert Advisory Panel chosen by the government. Representatives of the public were allowed to speak for three minutes each in the afternoon. These included plastic surgeons and their staffs, in favour of implants. Members of women’s health agencies, some Members of Parliament, several B.I.L. women who had painful experiences with implants and others spoke against approving the applications. Transcripts of submissions may be found here. It was a concern to the latter group that several members of the Expert Advisory Panel had in the past received remuneration for work done for the manufacturers (more details).However on Oct. 20, 2006, Health Canada announced it had approved the applications of Mentor and Inamed (now Allergan) to sell the implants freely. The manufacturers must keep study records for ten years, but in the interim many women may suffer sad consequences of obtaining the implants.
At the Ottawa Forum, Breast Implant Line participated in a press conference to help circulate important risk factors about implants.
Breast Implant Line took the position that silicone gel safety has never been proved and that the devices should only be made available if considered safe after a sufficient period of testing in actual use. Preferably this would cover seven to ten years as problems do not normally show up in the initial years after implantation. Most manufacturers’ test records provided at the Ottawa Public Forum only spanned two to three years. Silicone gel breast implants are classified by Health Canada in Category 4, the highest risk category of devices they licence.
Breast Implant Line of Canada has strongly advocated the establishment of a National Breast Implant Registry. No database exists through which women could be contacted when new information, about silicone implant risks for example, becomes available.
