study on ethics and morality of cosmetic surgery

[Guest guest]

To Dr. Hudson,

I was given your website address from a former patient of yours. She has now become a part of my Support group for women harmed by saline implants. I wanted to share with you some of my thoughts regarding the moral and ethical issues of breast augmentation surgery.

I myself have been a victim of this deceptive surgery. I had saline implants put in May of 1997, McGhan textured, 450cc overfilled to 500cc, under the muscle. I was told that they would go with me to my grave. Everything was fine for about 8 months. Then my world crashed as my immune system buckled under the stress of having an implant in my body.

I suffered devastating symptoms that destroyed my happy life and filled it with pain and anguish instead. Through the Internet, I found support from thousands of other women who had similarly suffered from their implants, both silicone gel and saline. These symptoms are no coincidence. Once you read the same stories over and over again, year after year, from women from all backgrounds, social status, financial status, age groups, there is no denying that women are being harmed by their implants, including those that are saline.

It has been almost 3 years to the day that I got sick, and 2 years, 10 and a half months since explant, and I am proud to report that ALL of my symptoms have abated and I am once again a happy and healthy individual. If I had not removed the implants, I doubt I could tell you that.

The moral and ethical dilemma comes from the plastic surgeons neglect in telling women of the true dangers of breast implants. So many women on my group have stated that had they known the real dangers, they never would have gotten implants. I have also been rewarded with letters from women saying THANK YOU FOR THIS GROUP!, stating that they have cancelled their surgeries because of the information we have given them through our own research, experiences, and recoveries.

If you are not telling women that they risk their health, their jobs, their financial well being, and their self-esteem should their implants fail them, you are being deceptive. You are not giving them full information about the surgery and the effects of implants, and therefore, they cannot give you full informed consent. I have heard too many sad, heart breaking stories about implants destroying lives to not speak up about this, given the opportunity. I urge you to check out the facts yourself. Be true. Have integrity. Do the right thing. Find out what is happening to some women as a result of their implants. And then ask yourself, do you want to be responsible for their ill health if you don't warn them ahead of time that this is a very real possibility?

I know that not all women will get as sick as I was, but until medical science can come up with real solutions to the illnesses being presented as a result of breast implants, the responsibility for these medical disasters rests on the shoulders of those who are putting them in without disclosing the full scope of risks in their true, ugly actuality.

Patty Faussett

Owner and Moderator of on E-groups