Fw: Range of Illnesses Survey... From Dr. Zuckerman

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From: " by way of ilena rose " <diana@...>

Sent: Saturday, April 14, 2001 9:22 AM

Subject: Range of Illnesses Survey... From Dr. Zuckerman

> Dear Ilena -- Please post

> Dear Ilena, Hogan is correct that there has never been a study of

> all the illnesses reported by women with breast implants, and it is

> impossible to know the long-term risks of implants until that is done.

> It's a hard study to do because it would require some kind of random

> sample of women with implants. The closest to it is the study that NIH

is

> conducting, which looks at a wide range of serious illnesses, including

> all cancers and death from all causes. In the meantime, our organization

> is gathering information from women with implants who are seriously ill

> with diseases OTHER than connective-tissue diseases. We are in the

middle

> of gathering info about lung problems/asthma. NOW, we want to start

> gathering data from women who have any kind of cancer OTHER than breast

> cancer, whether or not they think their illness is related to their

> implants. We are also interested to hear from anyone with a family

member

> who had implants who has died from any cause. We'd like to hear from

> them. This could be a bit overwhelming, so I am asking that anyone who

> responds write just a few sentences (no more than a " page " ): when they

> (or the relative) got implants, what kind (silicone, saline, double

lumen,

> polyurethane-covered), when they were diagnosed and with what disease, why

> they think it might be related to their implants (if they do think so),

> where they live (city,state) and how to contact them. Please send the

> info to diana@... Thanks so much! Zuckerman,

> Ph.D. Executive Director National Center for Policy Research for Women and

> Families 1444 Eye Street, NW Suite 900 Washington, DC 20005

> <www.cpr4womenandfamilies.org> www.cpr4womenandfamilies.org In a

message

> dated 4/14/01 3:53:10 AM Eastern Daylight Time, NancHogan@... writes:

>

> The real problem with determining what, and if, implants have caused

> illness, is that there is no single LARGE SCALE study of woman who have

> had them long term, in comparison to woman who have not. Certainly the

> information is available from the data collected by the claims office

> ..... and we must lobby, demand obtain by court order or whatever, to

have

> this information released and made available, rather then hidden for the

> sake of confidentiality. The claims office will be receiving the

> information on every woman who filed and they also know the number of

> woman who have had implants... all of this information could be the basis

> for knowing the truth, but so far I've seen no one pursue this avenue...

> you'd think the FDA would be on top of it... but we all know better.

Until

> an all encompassing study reveals an inordinate number of illnesses

> compared to the un-implanted population of woman in the same age groups,

we

> will never have definitive proof that implants=illness.... I've yet to

> meet a doctor, nurse, therapist, intern or anyone in the medical field

who

> believes that any illness is associated with implants. They will accept

> that there are infections, that there are side effects to surgery (as

there

> are in all surgeries) and complications (relative to scar tissue,

rejection

> or injury, but these types of problems occur in all surgery or implant,

> even with human cornea transplants) but when you ask about illness by

> poisoning from silicone, or diseases that may have been brought on or

> exasperated as a result of silicone, they will wave their hands and

gaa-fa.

> In truth, we are suffering from illnesses found in the general population

> of woman who have not been implanted..... And statistics have not proven

> that we experience higher rates of these illnesses, or that we wouldn't

> have been the chosen ones to have these illnesses if we hadn't been

> implanted, because there is no way to easily gain the information......

> Many woman who have implants have never even bothered to file a claim for

> the law suits, because they don't even believe it, or want to. I know

> first hand.... My sister also had implants, and as sick as I've been,

it's

> a topic that can not be discussed.... she wants to completely pretend

that

> her breasts are real, that she never even had implants. She suffers from

> extreme asthma, pre-mature bone loss from an unknown cause... she breast

> fed her daughter with them (we had an argument about her doing that, in

> 1992, and she didn't speak to me for a year, because she thought I was

> nuts being alarmed about it, her doctor said it would be fine) .... her

> daughter has swallowing problems, learning disabilities and heart

> palpitations at age 9 .... But my sister and her daughter did not file,

> there is no claim for them, her husband doesn't even have the slightest

> idea that their daughter's illness might be related to implants, because

> she would never tell him, consider it or believe it herself. I don't

> know if anyone is pursuing the release of all the information the claims

> office will have..... But it would appear to me, that it is the only way

> to determine the percentage of implanted woman who filed a claim, the

> percentage of claiming woman who have illness and those numbers should

tell

> us something. Hogan

>

>

>