1. Debate about the safety of breast implants - and in particular of silicone gel breast implants - has raged for decades. Most of the peer-reviewed scientific papers assessing the risks of breast implants have failed to find associations with particular diseases.[8] On the other hand, there is a very substantial (and growing) body of anecdotal evidence from women who maintain that they are suffering illnesses - often extremely debilitating illnesses - which they ascribe to breast implants.[9] And some doctors also back these claims. Read more;
EU may crack down on breast implants
24 May, 2000 Legislation governing the health and safety of breast implants is to be considered by the European Commission.The move comes after a five year campaign by a Euro-MP to raise awareness of the potential dangers of silicone implants.It has been alleged that implants sometimes cause tiredness, weakness, intermittent fever and muscle aches and pains. Bill Miller, Glasgow Labour MEP, presented a petition to the Commission two years ago with the names of thousands of concerned women, but it was rejected.He wants national registers of every operation carried out in each of the EU's 15 member states, with women being given advice prior to the surgery by someone other than the surgeon involved. Large-scale studies should also be done to establish the health risks of implants, he said.Read more;
Breast implant advice from government
4 October, 2000 Women considering having breast implants are to have access to objective advice from a booklet written by the Department of Health.The booklet aims to ensure women have all the information they need before surgery, while the debate about the safety of implants continues.But opinion is still divided as to whether some implants can lead to connective tissue disease and other long term health problems.The most recent implant problems have been caused by rupture and leakage of the oil-based implant Trilucent which was withdrawn in March 1999. The 5,000 women affected were given the option of having the implant removed, although the Department of Health insisted that relatively few problems were reported.
Breast implant leak risk 'far higher than suspected'
December 19, 1997 A US safety authority says that silicone breast implants weaken with age and rupture more frequently than the manufacturers and many doctors had suspected until now. But the agency's doctors are still not sure if the leakage of the gel causes disease in other organs of the body. But 30 years after silicone implants were first introduced, women with a range of medical problems - from joint pains to rheumatoid arthritis and lupus - claimed leakage was the cause of their ills.Silicone leaking from implants has been found in women's lymph nodes, chest, ribs, upper arms, elbow, hands and liver. After researchers expressed concern about health risks, the United States and other countries limited or banned the use of silicone implants in the early 1990s. Learn more;
Breast implants 'safe'
February 6, 1998 The chief concern was a possible link with connective tissue diseases, in which the immune system reacts against the body's own organs and tissues. Rheumatoid arthritis is one such disease, but sclerosis - the hardening of organ tissue - is most commonly associated with silicone breast implants. In 1991 an American jury found that a patient had contracted connective tissue disease from her breast implants and the manufacturer had misrepresented the safety of its product. Learn more;
Breast implants kill mice
February 11, 1999 The silicone used in breast implants can kill mice, scientists have found. They also found that the silicone can leak out of intact implants, increasing fears that the devices put women's long-term health at risk. Campaigners seeking compensation for women who believe breast implants have made them sick say the report strengthens their position. The women have complained of illnesses such as lupus or rheumatoid arthritis, which affect the connective tissue that holds the body together. It said tests that did show a toxic effect on the immune system were "few in number and questionable in significance".Learn more;
19 May 00 | Health Huge rupture rate in breast implants
09 Jul 98 | Americas Settlement reached in breast implant case
08 Jul 98 | Sci/Tech Breast implants 'safe'
02 Dec 98 | Sci/Tech Natural breast implants could replace silicone
06 Jun 00 | Health Firm to fund breast implant removal
Teen who fell into a coma last year after getting breast implants is allowed to move home but can barely move or speak
February 2014
A young woman who fell into a coma last year after getting breast augmentation surgery has been allowed to go back to her home but is still unable to move on her own and can only say a few words. Linda Perez now has to be under constant supervision as she has dropped to a skeletal weight. Doctors fear that the now-19-year-old may never recover, but her mother is holding out for a recovery, citing the fact that she is now off of her feeding tube as a good sign.Linda suffered brain damage in the hour after the breast augmentation finished but now the doctor who performed the surgery is filing to have access to her earlier medical records because he feels she hid key facts from him.Read more:
