Dr. Zuckerman responds to industry backed Cato's, 'Boaz'

[Guest guest]

news@... <news@...>

To the Editor:

Mr. Boaz has so many errors in his short article on breast implants,

that it is really quite impressive.

I will respond to them in the order in which he made them.

In their testimony before the FDA, several women's organizations

asked the FDA to make sure that any medical products approved for

women are safe and effective. Most people would consider that a

reasonable request. Apparently Mr. Boaz does not.

Despite his repeated use of the word " ban " , there is no ban on

silicone gel breast implants. According to the implant makers, they

have implanted approximately 100,000 women since implants were

restricted in 1992. Implants are widely available to women who have

undergone mastectomies. They are also widely available for women

whose breasts sag after breastfeeding (a condition that several

plastic surgeons referred to in their testimony as a deformity).

Silicone breast implants are also widely available to women who have

breast implants and want to replace them.

The Feminist Majority Foundation did not " line up " or testify or

meet with FDA officials or demand anything about breast implants.

Mr. Boaz apparently made that up out of thin air.

Mr. Boaz claimed that the " National Women's Health Network and the

National Council of Women's Organizations also petitioned the FDA to

maintain its ban. " Not true, since there was no petition and there

is no ban. Instead, both organizations asked the FDA to only

approve silicone gel breast implants if they were proven safe for

long-term use.

I was correctly quoted by Mr. Boaz, but the name of my organization

was incorrectly listed. One out of two isn't bad, I suppose.

Mr. Boaz quoted Sally Satel saying that the " best studies " show that

silicone breast implants are reasonably safe. He neglected to point

out that the studies showing breast implants are safe tend to be

short-term studies funded by implant makers and plastic surgery

associations. In contrast, research funded by the National Cancer

Institute and the FDA focused on women who had implants for at least

7 years, and found statistically significant increases in serious

diseases among women with implants. For example, NCI found that

women with breast implants were twice as likely to die of brain

cancer, three times as likely to die of lung cancer, and four times

as likely to kill themselves, compared to other plastic surgery

patients. The NCI studies are considered superior to other research

because all the implanted women had breast implants for at least 7

years and the comparison sample of other plastic surgery patients

were very similar in age, race, marital status, socio-economic

status, health status, and health habits (including smoking).

Mr. Boaz also neglected to mention that many women (and at least one

man) testified about their children who became seriously ill after

being breastfed by mothers who had silicone gel breast implants. I

would hope that is a concern that your readers would share with

women's groups that testified. We would welcome the opportunity to

partner with your readers on that issue.

Mr. Boaz is entitled to his opinion, but he shouldn't be making up

his own " facts. " Your readers deserve better.

Sincerely,

Zuckerman, Ph.D.

President

National Research Center for Women & Families

www.center4research.org