Banned silicone breast implants safe, manufacturers tell expert panel

[Guest guest]

http://news./news?tmpl=story & u=/cpress/20050929/ca_pr_on_he/health_brea\

st_implants_2

Banned silicone breast implants safe, manufacturers

tell expert panel SHERYL UBELACKER

Thu Sep 29, 7:23 PM ET

OTTAWA (CP) - An expert panel that will advise Health

Canada on whether to re-approve banned silicone-gel

breast implants got just two messages in public

hearings Thursday - the devices are either safe and

should be brought back on the market immediately or

more research is needed to prove they don't harm

women's health.

While the divided opinion was not unexpected - the

implants have long been controversial - the public

forum showed that many health professionals believe

the new generation of silicone implants offers

superior breast augmentation and reconstruction for

many Canadian women compared with saline implants, the

only ones approved for widespread use.

Speaker after speaker, most of them plastic surgeons,

nurses, and other health-care providers, were

vociferous in their praise of the silicone products,

saying numerous international studies have concluded

the implants are safe as well as effective.

Dr. , a plastic surgeon at McMaster

University in Hamilton, told the panel his rate of

re-operation, to remove and replace the newer silicone

implants, is just five per cent, compared to 20 per

cent for saline-filled devices, which often cause

unnatural rippling and folds in women's breasts.

" If we as plastic surgeons are going to meet the goals

and expectations of women undergoing breast cancer

reconstruction or augmentation ... the silicon-gel

implant provides opportunities for patients that we

just cannot accomplish with the saline devices. "

Since 2001, silicone implants have been available in

Canada under a special release program, which is

intended to give patients access to non-approved

products in cases of serious or life-threatening

illness.

Toronto plastic surgeon Walter s said the number

of silicone implant surgeries has skyrocketed since

then. The demand for these implants, which can be

tailored to the individual woman, is " patient-driven, "

he told the panel.

More details in a moment.