Fw: Letter to Judge Pointer ~ Birmingham, the world is watching.

[Guest guest]

From: " Ilena Rose " <ilena@...>

Sent: Friday, June 01, 2001 6:35 PM

Subject: Letter to Judge Pointer ~ " Birmingham, the world is watching. "

> Repost from: 05/02/1999

>

> sam_pointer@...

>

> To The Honorable Judge Pointer,

>

> After witnessing Dr. Hulka under cross examination in your courtroom April

> 21st, the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute right around the corner was a

> fresh breath of hope.

>

> In the early 60's, equality for our black citizens also seemed but a

> dream. Equally, justice for breast implant victims presently appears to be

> anything but imminent. You can change that and protect millions of medical

> consumers from faulty medical devices.

>

> As the sign in that historical museum read, " Birmingham, the world is

> watching. "

>

> Judge Pointer, the world is watching you, your courtroom and your National

> Science Panel. Regretably though, lin's words ring loudly,

>

> " It's such a pity that our legal system

> has so little to do with justice. "

>

> After reading much of the testimony revealing manufacturer influence at so

> many turns, and the basic lack of curiosity of the researchers to even

> look in medline beyond " breast implants " to " silicone, " I can't help but

> paraphrase:

>

> " It's such a pity that our science panel

> has so little to do with science. "

>

> The responsibility you have to the health of millions of women and their

> offspring is awesome. In the bookstore of this Luther King Museum,

> we had a conversation with the 20 year old clerk. He shared that at 18,

> his former girlfriend had gotten implants as a graduation gift from her

> surgeon father. Her little sister is receiving this same " gift " this year.

>

> Judge Pointer, undoubtedly, this surgeon ~ as scores of thousands of other

> physicians around the world ~ has been mislead into believing that

> silicone and breast implants are " safe. " Your Panel is continuing to

> disseminate this rumor to the world. Do you not feel your personal

> responsibility in issuing false assurances to the millions with

> disintegrating and leaking implants in place and those who purchase their

> first implants from now on?

>

> At a FDA / Medical Devices meeting last week, the FDA could not designate

> what they felt an " acceptable rupture rate was. " You did not even instruct

> your NSP to investigate this serious, usually inevitable event that often

> results in multiple invasive surgeries. How could this have been ignored?

>

> While widely accepted that early detection is one of the key factors in

> limiting the devastation of breast cancer, nowhere was the definite

> obstruction of good mammography by all implants even addressed. This

> consequence of breast implants alone, makes their presence highly unsafe.

>

> Judge Pointer, please tell us, what can the women do to get your attention

> off these worn manufacturer bought, teeny, skewed, short, lopsided

> " studies " whose purpose was to obfuscate litigation, and onto their

> serious health problems?

>

> When I heard Dr. Hulka defend the design of the Mayo study as " excellent "

> when she couldn't even say whether any of the control group of Mayo

> patients (might that bias alone not tell volumes?) had implants, or why

> women with one month old implants were included in a " study " investigating

> systemic disease, I realized that your courtroom was just very expensive

> theatre. She seemed to find the concept of " latency " almost trivial.

>

> Women spent thousands of their own dollars to have their medical records

> included in their cases, yet, to date, this staggering evidence of

> autoimmune diseases and infections and multiple surgeries is under lock

> and key while the Mayo and Harvard studies are yet again being presented

> as Commandments 11 and 12.

>

> Millions of women with leaking and disintegrating and ruptured implants

> are being lulled into false assurances by your panel. Plastic surgeons are

> implanting between 500-750 new sets of implants every day.

>

> What if only 10% of the women were to become ill from these never FDA

> approved devices? Or 25%? Or 40%?

>

> Judge Pointer, when we conducted our peaceful Rally in front of your

> courtroom April 21st, we had mounted police surrounding us for our

> protection and your Court's.

>

> Where is the protection for the implanted women past, present and future?

>

> And their offspring?

>

> What science has ever said that it is safe to gestate and nurse babies

> born of implanted women?

>

> We both know that answer is sadly, " none. "

>

> Please study the records of the nearly half a million women involved in

> these lawsuits.

>

> And please, recognize the bias of your Panel, and re-consider the

> Plaintiff's Motion for their dismissal.

>

> Judge Pointer, the world is watching.

>

>

>

> Ilena Rosenthal

> Director, Humantics Foundation for Women

> Breast Implants: Recovery & Discovery

> 1380 Garnet #444

> San Diego, CA 92109

> 858/270-0680

>

>