Dr. Levin's Comment on Hospital Deaths & Mitral Valve Prolapse

[Guest guest]

When I look back at all of the problems that I have

had, I wonder why that I'm still here. I think that

some of us have been chosen to fight this issue. Our

darling Bonnie did not make it, but she sure had an

impact on my life. She gave me her strength.

Love....

Lea

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Original Message -----

From: " Lea " <devans@...

<Bojohns@...

Sent: Monday, January 20, 2003 1:54 PM

Subject: Dr. Levin's Comment on Hospital Deaths &

Mitral Valve Prolapse

Dear Bonnie:

I found it! Dr. Levin's email reply follows my long

note to Ilena.

Yes, this is our darling Dr. Al Levin/attorney; we all

love him here in Canada because he thinks on his feet.

He will not let the " Big Boys/Girls " frighten him

away. No one has ever tested my platinum levels, not

even " Our Darling Dr. Brautbar " ; He tested me to see

how much money he could get out of me!

We believe that by the time I got to see him, someone

else had got to him first . . . perhaps my specialist

here. I used to trust my specialist because he knew

how very sick I was, but he was also a good friend of

a plastic surgeon. I dumped him after my visit to Los

Angeles. This was a sad episode, because Dr. Brautbar

seemed to be such a lovely man. My Magnesium levels

were normal; however, when I took Magnesium on my own

some things improved.

How much Magnesium do you take and in what form?

Please take good care of yourself!

Thank you, Bonnie, for your support...

love....

Lea -----

Original Message -----

From: " Lea (by way of ilena rose) "

<devans@...

<Recipient List Suppressed:

Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2002 8:30 PM

Subject: Hospital Deaths & Mitral Valve Prolapse

[Lea dictated this to me from her bed.]

Dearest Ilena:

Could you please post this message again.

This serious issue must be revisited again because of

my condition. It's the one about MVP and the women

who died in a small hospital just outside Houston. If

only this nurse would come forward, it would help so

many women. She is probably afraid of the

consequences. Her life could be threatened and she

would probably be fired. This is why she will remain

anonymous.

The women who died might be alive today if we knew

then what we know now. Not all women who have had

breast implants have the problems that I have;

however, many--far too many--do have severe

respiratory problems. I believe that it depends on how

deadly the implants were.

As many of you know I was diagnosed with MVP/PAT after

my ruptured breast implants were removed. I had been

very sick for many years, actually since my first set

of breast implants, which were implanted in 1974.

These were Dow's cheap, thin-shelled silicone breast

implants.

These ruptured within two years; they might have

ruptured shortly after being implanted. In 1976, the

plastic surgeon removed the ruptured implants but left

the Dacron patches, which were embedded in the

capsules in my chest wall. He then inserted

Bristol-Myers Squibb's cheap, thin-shelled

polyurethane breast implants on top of the old

capsules that had the Dacron patches embedded in them.

This procedure is called capsular stripping. From

what we have read, it seems that the Dow implants that

had Dacron patches in them were pulled from the market

because they caused severe chest-wall damage...just

the way they did in me. We don't know when they

ruptured, because the ruptures did not show up on the

mammograms that I had each year. But they were

ruptured when the plastic surgeon removed them in

1992.

Unfortunately, he neglected to remove the capsules as

well. In 1993, another plastic surgeon removed the

capsules, as well as a large seroma. He also had to

remove most of my left breast. After all this, I

became much sicker...if that was possible. This is all

in my story, but I wanted to make sure that all women

read this.

In the early nineties, I developed a cough in the

mornings only, then two years ago I went into

respiratory distress and was put on a nebulizer for

asthma/bronchitis. Now we know that these were

symptoms of heart problems. I had chronic fatigue,

shortness of breath, a swollen abdomen, low blood

gases, severe pain under my left breast, two

silicone-induced pulmonary embolisms, and many

problems with my blood. All this time, my heart valves

were deteriorating.

My doctors have had me on antibiotics for many years;

this is a good thing, or I too might have died. The

symptoms that I'm having now are chronic fatigue,

shortness of breath--can't seem to get a deep breath,

pain under my left rib, and chronic gastrointestinal

attacks, even though I'm on two antibiotics, as well

as Nexium (40mg) and the nebulizer.

We know that most all women have so many symptoms

that the doctors get confused and overlook some very

serious conditions. I asked my doctor for an

echocardiogram in January 2002 because of my

deteriorating health. When I saw him in February, he

said you have an enlarged heart--right sided. I am

devastated and sad, because someone should have known

by my symptoms that it was my heart. I hope that the

pulmonary specialist will refer me to a cardiologist

so that I will get some proper care for this

condition. I have two wonderful doctors, who are doing

their very best in caring for me.

My has always said that I had the same symptoms

as his mother, who died of congestive heart failure.

She, however, had been a heavy smoker for more than

fifty years, but I have never smoked in my life. Most

of us have lupus, and MVP is common in lupus. I have a

peer-reviewed article on it somewhere, but can't find

it at the moment.

To the women who have had silicone/saline breast

implants, please get your hearts tested if you are

having any of the symptoms that I have....don't let

this happen to you.

With love and hope for our futures...

Lea

*********************

PLEASE POST this letter from Dr. Al Levin again.

It's in response to my letter to him regarding MVP and

mysterious deaths in a Houston hospital.

Much love............

Lea

-----------------------------

Original Message-----

From: FLITEQUACK@... [sMTP:FLITEQUACK@...]

Sent: Sunday, July 04, 1999 10:14 AM

devans@...

Subject: Re: HOSPITAL DEATHS & Mitral Valve Prolapse

Can anyone search the local public records for cardiac

deaths in females by age over the last 10 years? If we

find a significant increasing trend in death before

age 50, we may invest the $$ to see if there is an

inordinate number of people with breast implants in

that group.

Al Levin

----------------------------

From: " Lea " <devans@... -----

Original Message-----

From: lea evans [sMTP:devans@...]

Sent: Monday, June 28, 1999 2:00 PM

'flitequack@...'

Subject: Re: Hospital Deaths

Dear Dr. Levin:

Thank you for helping us to fight back I have this bit

of information. If only this nurse would come forward.

''This is what she said'' you certainly do have my

permission to post this. I am reluctant to name the

hospital, because if I do, this nurse will certainly

be severely reprimanded, if not fired. I can say this

was a smaller hospital in a suburb outside of Houston.

Wonder what is going on down at the big medical center

in downtown Houston? Also, another friend of mine,

occasionally goes to St. Luke's hospital in the

Medical Center to see an ear, nose and throat

specialist. The inside of her folder had been marked

in large letters ''breast implants.'' she asked the

doctor who put that on her folder and he would not

respond to her question.

She has been reluctant to return to St. Luke's and

preferred to use a doctor closer to home. I guess we

are ''marked for life'' now in the medical

communities. Also I have heard that there is a new

computer available to doctors that tells them when you

walk in the door as a new patient if you have any

lawsuits pending against doctors. I think the info is

tracked through a person's social security number.

Wish new patients could find out if a doctor has any

lawsuits pending against him, but I guess that would

be considered an invasion of the doctor's (usually a

man) privacy!!!! I have been reading info. That you

and others have posted on the health chat board and

through the newsgroups. I have some info. That might

be helpful to the silicone cause.

A very dear friend of mine fell and had to go to the

emergency room of a hospital in the Houston area. The

ER doctor asked her why she had so many health

problems. She told him ''implants'' after the doctor

left, the ER nurse asked her ''how she was doing?''

she said her hand still hurt her a lot.

The ER nurse said ''No, I mean how are you doing since

you got your breast implants removed?'' My friend said

it had been four years since explantation and every

day was a struggle. The ER nurse proceeded to tell her

the following. That she usually worked ICU and had

seen many die in the hospital with implants. My friend

asked ''how many in the last year? " The nurse said

''In the last two years she could not even begin to

estimate how many had died. She said that the women

were coming in with Mitral Valve Prolapse symptoms and

would be admitted to ICU. She said on the average that

the sixth to seventh time that they were admitted to

ICU they usually died. She said that in addition to

being diagnosed with Mitral Valve Prolapse some were

also diagnosed with Micro-Carditis [infective

endocarditis]? My friend was so shocked by this info.

That she was not sure of the second diagnosis's name.

I do not know what is ''public information''

concerning death certificates are. Maybe we need to

start checking on hospital deaths (especially in large

areas, such as Houston). I am also a silicone survivor

and would like to see the medical profession " Tell the

truth. " You are a lawyer. Perhaps you could find out

where this came from.

With warm regards.......

Lea