Breast Implant Line of Canada

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	Media Articles and Print 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 - 1995 2008 Articles May 16, 2008 Ottawa prepared to slap toxic label on widely used chemicals by Sarah Schmidt. Ottawa Citizen EXCERPT: "The federal government announced Friday it intends to slap a toxic label on a bunch of chemicals used in everyday products from chewing gum to cosmetics as well as in controversial devices like silicone breast implants because they are either harmful to human health or the environment. " May 14, 2008 Silicone gel implants may lose approval; Key chemicals could be declared toxic by Sarah Schmidt. Ottawa Citizen EXCERPT: "Health Canada may have to reverse its controversial 2006 decision to allow women to get silicone gel-filled breast implants if it proceeds with a plan to declare key chemicals found in them to be toxic, experts say. " 2007 Articles February 11, 2007 Kiwis paid out for bad implants by Ruth Hill. Sunday Star Times EXCERPT: "A New Zealand breast cancer survivor, who suffered years of pain from a ruptured silicone implant, has finally received her payout from a multibillion-dollar compensation fund - a paltry $600. The woman, who did not want to be named, said she was "surprised to get anything at all", after a decade of legal wrangling. "Frankly, I had stopped hoping and just put it behind me."" February 6, 2007 Silicone Breast Implants Face Hearings in Congress by Molly M Ginty. Womens News Correspondent EXCERPT: "Critics point to women like Karen Guerriero, a 39-year-old Houston mother who had breast augmentation at age 21 and learned five years ago that both her silicone implants were leaking, causing dizziness, nausea and blurred vision. "I don't have the money to have them removed," says Guerriero. "I want this poison out of me, and can't sleep at night worrying about it." February 2, 2007 Implants still not safe by Edward Melmed and Judy Norsigian. Boston.com EXCERPT: "In terms of cost, silicone implants are about $1,000 more expensive than saline implants -- and this represents just the beginning. The FDA has made it clear that patients will need a breast MRI after three years, and every year after that for the rest of their lives. An MRI for one breast ranges from $1,600 to $5,000. In addition, follow-up surgery to replace a leaking implant is usually more expensive than the initial procedure. " February 2, 2007 Silicone Breast Implants Are Unsafe, Despite FDA Approval, Opinion Piece Says Daily Womens Health Opinion Piece EXCERPT: "Despite FDA's recent approval of silicone breast implants, there still are "considerable risks that women must consider before walking into the operating room," " January 21, 2007 Payout final insult to local woman's implant injuries By Shantell M. Kirkendoll. The Flint Journal EXCERPT: "Suzie, who did not want her real name published, said she spent more than 10 years wrangling with Dow Corning (once the largest maker of silicon for breast implants) and revolving doors of attorneys and doctors treating her muscle aches and arthritis. She was featured in a 1994 Flint Journal article about the implant case. " January 12, 2007 Women's Health: A red-flag warning Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Editorial Board) EXCERPT: "We've never had much faith in the FDA, but its approval of silicone gel-filled breast implants marks an all-time low for the agency." Top 2006 Articles 2006 Beauty and the Breast: The Hidden Dangers of Implants CBC Investigative Unit A collection of interviews with the main players in our Beauty and the Breast series. All of the interviewswere conducted between 2001 and 2006. December 12, 2006 Silicone, Saline Choice Still Confusing by SR.J. Ignelzi. Union-Tribune EXCERPT: "When a silicone gel implant breaks, nobody may know. Called a 'silent rupture,' it can go unnoticed, because the cohesive gel usually stays within the capsule of scar tissue that forms around the implant. The fear is that the gel may migrate to other parts of the chest or underarm area. Only a special breast coil MRI can adequately detect small breaks or tears in the implant." November 27, 2006 Silicone: Now a solid 'maybe' by Melissa Healy. The Times Staff Writer EXCERPT: "Medical insurance doesn't cover cosmetic breast enhancement. Similarly, the cost of postoperative tracking and repeat surgery, the FDA notes, "may not be covered" by a woman's medical insurance and 'may exceed the cost of her initial surgery.' " November 22, 2006 Toxic Breasts: A Peek Inside the Breast Implant Industry by Julie Chadwick. The Navigator Newspaper EXCERPT: "The integrity of the Expert Advisory Panel was called into question in early Nov. of 2005. The Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) reported that Nanaimo/Cowichan MP Jean Crowder was calling for the removal of three of the panel members because all three had either worked for, or accepted money from Inamed and Mentor. These were the very companies who's breast implant license applications, and safety and efficacy data, were under review." November 21, 2006 MP questions decision to bring back silicone gel breast implants CBC News EXCERPT:"Members of the House of Commons standing committee on health have called on Health Canada officials to explain why silicone breast implants are being allowed back on the market." November 19, 2006 Feinstein Voices Breast Implant Concerns by Elizabeth Daley. Bay City News Service EXCERPT: "Feinstein said Friday that while 'the FDA announced this afternoon that it has ended its 14- year ban on silicone gel breast implants and approved products by Allergan and Mentor Corporation,' she feels 'serious questions remain about the long term safety of these products. The FDA has a responsibility to carefully monitor the health and safety of women who use these implants.' " November, 2006 Dangerous Curves by Ginny Graves. Allure Magazine. EXCERPT: "The reason for his backdoor methods: Silicone implants have been accessible only to select women who are part of a clinical trial since 1992, when the Food and Drug Administration pulled the devices from the market over concerns that leaking gel was causing a number of illnesses, including cancer and auto-immune diseases. Demand at the time slowed. But it never died, and over the years, silicone has rebounded--and become increasingly coveted. " November, 2006 Junk Science Puts Thacker Against Milloy, American Chemical Society, White House www.thinkandask.com EXCERPT: "Thacker was a science reporter for the Environmental Science and Technology journal, the media arm for the American Chemical Society, and it was after he was fired that he exposed evidence of an entire industry built upon spinning science propaganda through the media and Internet in order to benefit corporate interests. " October 20, 2006 Dangerous silicone gel-filled breast implants are back on the market. News Release. EXCERPT: "As recently as October 12, 2006, news agencies in the USA and Canada reported that at least one of the manufactures withheld safety information from U.S. regulators. A former Mentor scientist has alleged the Santa Barbara, California, company concealed, misrepresented, or withheld leakage, durability and other data about its silicone-gel breast implants from the FDA. A criminal investigation into this has been requested in the United States." October 12, 2006 Public Citizen Calls for Criminal Investigation of Breast Implant Manufacturer for Withholding Saftey Data from FDA News Release EXCERPT: "Public Citizen today called for a criminal investigation into Mentor Corporation’s apparent failure to send the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) data showing safety problems with their silicone gel implants. " October 11, 2006 In the bosom of death: Suicide risk is high among breast implant recipients, Canadian study says By: Allison Hanes, National Post EXCERPT: "New research pointing to the high risk of suicide among breast augmentation patients is generating debate as Health Canada reviews its restrictions on silicone implants. " July 18, 2006 Breast Cancer Doesn't Have to Mean Losing Your Breast by Blackwell Publishing. examhealth. EXCERPT: " Breast augmentation is rapidly becoming one of the most frequently performed cosmetic surgeries in the US with data showing a 460% increase in procedures from 1997-2005, according to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. Along with this increase in breast implants, concerns associated with screening, diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer are also rising." July 6 , 2006 Mortality among Canadian Women with Cosmetic Breast Implants by Paul J. Villeneuve et al. American Journal of Epidemiology EXCERPT: "There is widespread concern about possible long-term health effects among women who have received breast implants for cosmetic purposes; few studies have reported on the mortality patterns of such women. The authors examined cause-specific mortality in a cohort of 24,558 women with breast implants and 15,893 women who underwent other plastic surgery procedures in Ontario and Quebec, Canada, between 1974 and 1989. Deaths through 1997 were identified through linkage to the national mortality database " April 7, 2006 Platinum Found in Women With Breast Implants by Marc Kaufman. The Washington Post Staff Writer. EXCERPT: "Most of the women in the study, which was funded in part by a nonprofit group that has argued to keep silicone implants off the market, had their enlargements implanted in the 1980s. The women had them for an average of 14 years, and many had had them removed, generally because of health problems." February 14, 2006 Breast Implant Advisory Panel: More Study on Silicon Leakage Laura Eggerston. CMAJ EXCERPT: "Two companies that manufacture silicone-gel breast implants have not satisfied a Health Canada expert advisory panel about the potential health effects of exposure to low-molecular-weight silicones if the implants leak, or about long-term safety, the panel says in a report released January 12. " January 10, 2006 By Santioning Silicone Breast Implants, Our Health Regulators Have Essentially Medicalized a Fashion Fad by Shari Graydon. The Ottawa Citizen. EXCERPT: "By sanctioning silicone breast implants, our health regulators are essentially medicalizing a dangerous fashion fad. In the process, they're sending a disturbing message to Canadian women and men, boys and girls: they are apparently saying that small breasts are a health problem in such desperate need of treatment that other serious risks pale in comparison." Top 2005 Articles September 30, 2005 Old Fears Dog New Breast Implants by Sharon Kirkey. CanWest News Service. EXCERPT: " ...a former Health Canada scientist who was among the first to raise safety suspicions about older silicone implants said today's devices are no better made than the implants that were voluntarily pulled from the market in 1992. Pierre Blais told the panel re-approving silicone implants would amount to a 'licence to wound.' " August 28, 2005 Safe Enough? by Diana Zuckerman. The Washington Times. EXCERPT: "The problem is not just prescription drugs. In just the last few weeks, the FDA announced the potentially fatal risks of heart valves and defibrillators. And, the FDA now seems poised to make another blooper, recently announcing their intention to approve silicone gel breast implants for the first time. " June 3, 2005 Health committee asks Dosanjh to delay decision on breast implants by Dennis Bueckert. Canadian Press. EXCERPT: "Researchers have found a high rate of complications and hospitalization associated with the implants, which can rupture and break down, and frequently must be replaced or removed." May 11, 2005 FDA Needs to Start Putting Consumer Safety First by Diana Zuckerman. Duluth News Tribune. EXCERPT: "Still, at the Vioxx and breast implant FDA advisory meetings, as I sat watching many advisory panel members ignore the concerns expressed by FDA scientists and other panel members, I was left wondering: Why do they seem so convinced by obviously biased information and so oblivious to the scientific findings that are presented?" May 9, 2005 BREAST IMPLANTS: Surgeons disagree with Toronto MPP on need for registry by Heather Sokoloff. National Post. EXCERPT: "Breast implants are a political hot potato. On one side, the women's health advocates most concerned about the safety of implants are appalled at the number of women happily going under the knife to produce an idealized aesthetic they've spent their careers trying to debunk." May 6, 2005 Mammary Database As More And More Women Are Choosing To Have Breast Augmentation Surgery, A Concerned MPP Wants To Create A Breast Implant Registry, Reports Christina Blizzard by Christina Blizzard. The Ottawa Citizen. EXCERPT: "But given the malfunction rate of implants, Churley says, there needs to be a way to alert women when artificial breasts go bad." May 5, 2005 Breast-implant advisers have ties to maker: Experts used by Health Canada are paid by company trying to get its implant approved by Sharon Kirkey. Vancouver Sun. EXCERPT: "Two experts used by a Health Canada scientific advisory panel looking at whether to allow controversial silicone gel-filled breast implants back on the market, have financial ties to one of the companies trying to get its implants approved for sale in Canada." May 3, 2005 Buyer Beware Breast Implant Resurgence by Mindelle Jacobs. The London Free Press. EXCERPT: "We should be suspicious of the two U.S. manufacturers that have asked Ottawa's permission to market silicone implants here. We know they want to make money. But where is the evidence that these devices are safe?" May 1, 2005 Silicone Comeback Renews Call For Implant Registry Canadian Press EXCERPT: "A national breast implant registry would address those concerns in two ways: first, by allowing health officials to quickly contact women whose implants may pose a health risk, and second, by allowing the study of the long-term health effects of those implants." April 14, 2005 Silicone-gel breast implants could make second debut Canadian Press. EXCERPT: "Canada is reviewing whether silicone-gel implants should again be made widely available to women for cosmetic breast augmentation and reconstruction after cancer surgery. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration ruled Tuesday not to allow their sale, ruling there was still too many unanswered questions on their safety." January 14, 2005 Lookin' good:Cosmetic surgery an increasingly attractive option for Canadians by Rochelle Squires. The Winnipeg Sun. EXCERPT: " 'Whatever you do to the outside, it won't make a bit of difference if you're not happy on the inside,' she said, noting exercise and a good diet not only improves the way a person looks but also provides a greater sense of well-being and increased self-esteem." January 6, 2005 Winners: Groups are Criticizing Radio Contest With Surgery as Prize The Associated Press. EXCERPT: "NOW has been active in lobbying the Food and Drug Administration against the marketing of silicone breast implants and has a continuing "Love Your Body" campaign aimed at countering what it says are unrealistic body images promoted in the entertainment industry." Top 2004 - 1995 August 11, 2004 Breast Rebuilt in Pioneering Op BBC News. EXCERPT: "A pioneering operation which could ease the suffering of hundreds of breast cancer patients has been carried out for the first time in Britain" January 3, 2004 Silicone implant danger a lesson learned the hard way By Betty Buikema, The Sun Times Company EXCERPT: "Remember the predictions that the Food and Drug Administration would finally approve silicone gel breast implants in 2003? That didn't happen. As the FDA decides what to do in 2004, I hope they will listen to women like me, who learned about breast implants from personal experience. " December 3, 2003 The Myth of New and Improved by Kathleen Nye. Philadelphia Daily News. EXCERPT: "If a company claims their implants are safe, they should be willing to do the studies necessary to prove it. Unfortunately, that hasn't happened. In fact, most of the research that has been done seems to have been designed to prove that implants are "safe enough" by studying relatively few women for only a few years." October 29, 2003 Researchers Call On Federal Government to Create Breast Implant Registry The Canadian Women's Health Network EXCERPT: "Aleina Tweed and Ann Pederson, researchers with the British Columbia Centre of Excellence for Women's Health, are asking the government to keep better records. There are currently no mechanisms in Canada to track the health outcomes from plastic surgery, including breast implant surgery, despite the various health problems that have been linked to these implants." March 5, 2003 Unraveling the Mystery of Autoimmunity Healthology Inc. EXCERPT: "Traditionally, the immune response has been understood as the body's method of defending itself against disease, which it does by identifying and destroying foreign invading microorganisms. By contrast, autoimmunity involves an immune response to something within the body itself. " June 16, 2001 Silicone implants making a comeback: Years of alarm washed away by new research and a gel like Gummi Bears By Sharon Kirkey Glenn Lowson, National Post EXCERPT: "Dr. Walter Peters says women are once again requesting silicone breast implants following medical studies that found no link between the implants and serious disease. After removing 629 silicone implants from the breasts of frightened women during the past 10 years, Dr. Walter Peters is now doing something he finds "totally mind-boggling." " May 1, 2001 Breast Implants Linked to Fibromyalgia by Marc Kaufman, Washington Post Staff Writer EXCERPT: "Women with ruptured silicone gel breast implants may be at increased risk of the painful condition fibromyalgia, according to the first study of women whose implants were known to have burst." August, 1995 Silicone City Mimi Swartz. Texas Monthly. EXCERPT: "But whether locals recognize it or not, Houston is in the grips of one enormous breast fixation. Boobs are ubiquitous here: Plastic surgery ads featuring young women with bountiful bosoms figure prominently in the local health and fitness magazines ("Summer's here. Time to look your best")." December 5, 1995 The Scandal of Silicone Implants Dr. Lynette Dumble. Green Left Online. EXCERPT: "Based on proclamations of silicone innocence, ruling medical opinion continues to dismiss claims from implant recipients, the overwhelming majority of whom are women, that their serious illnesses are connected to their reconstructive surgery" Top