Thursday, October 02, 2008

Bad news in Canada for women harmed by dangerous breast implants

Bravo to Joyce Attis of our group, for her years of working for rights of implanted women.

Women can't sue Health Canada over leaky breast implants: court

Both women were members of a class of plaintiffs that sued Dow Corning Corp. and other breast implant manufacturers in an earlier and separate class proceeding.

Attis opted out of that proceeding in 1994.

Dow Corning was granted bankruptcy protection in 1995.

The manufacturer agreed to pay up to US$3.2 billion to settle claims from more than 300,000 women - including Canadians - who said they had been harmed by the product.

Tesluk only received nominal damages from the settlement, court heard.

After the settlement, Attis and Tesluk began the action against Health Canada on behalf of a putative class consisting of residents of Canada - except British Columbia - who received Dow Corning breast implants between 1962 and 1992.

This class is said to include approximately 29,500 individuals.

They had claimed Health Canada failed to test, ban, recall or warn the appellants about the hazards of the implants.

But the Appeal Court ruled regulatory bodies should not be held liable in negligence.

"This could lead to decreased vigilance by the regulated entity, in this case the manufacturer, importer, and distributor of the product," the judges said. "Diminished deterrence for a regulated industry is to be avoided particularly when it is the industry, and not the regulator, that holds critical knowledge regarding product safety."


Sunday, September 14, 2008

COUP FOR VACCINATION INDUSTRY: Vaccine Makers Shielded From Autism Liability Lawsuit




I apologize for having to report such disturbing news ... and wish to thank Injury Board for covering this issue so well.


This is bad, bad news for the untold millions of humans damaged by medical devices including breast implants, heart devices etc. etc. etc.), and pharmaceuticals (including vaccinations, Vioxx like deadly drugs etc).

The consequences for the families whose children are not only first injured by these high profit products ... then oft left penniless with an ill / injured child is inhumane.

Please help raise awareness to this disaster ...

EXCERPTS:
An 11-year-old boy with autism and his family cannot proceed with their case against pharmaceutical companies after a judge ruled that federal law pre-empts state claims against companies if their vaccines are FDA-approved. Full article click here.

Monday, August 04, 2008

INJURY BOARD: U.S. Lacks Warning System on Artificial Joints


Excellent article here from Injury Board.

Upton Sinclair said it best: "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it."

Earlier articles revealed that as part of a settlement agreement with the United States attorney in Newark, the five largest manufacturers of artificial joints released records showing they paid physicians and hospitals more than $200 million this year. Some doctors promoting these devices received nearly $2,000,000 in one year alone. How unbiased can this be?

Daily, we see plastic surgeons and med device public relations people thoughout the interwebs promoting implants and other expensive surgeries ... how much do they earn ?

This excellent CBS piece, discussed how much the vaccination industry promoters receive hundreds of thousands of dollars.

A related article can be read here: Medical Device Makers Settle Kickbacks Probe for $311M.

With the various media being filled with industry voices disguised as unbiased writers, our health decisions are put at risk.

Prominent Breast Implant / Fen-Phen Attorney, Rick Laminack, accused as 'Sexual Predator' & for 'Defrauding' Clients

Thank you, Toxic Discovery for this information.
 
EXCERPTS:
 
Robinson brings broader allegations involving fen-phen litigation against the defendants. Robinson, a Magnolia, Texas, woman who worked on fen-phen litigation while employed at the firms, alleges the defendants engaged in mail fraud under 18 U.S.C. §1962 for mailing settlement statements to fen-phen clients that contained overcharges for medical records. Robinson alleges "firm employees would order fictitious medical records" for clients from health-care providers that had never treated those clients, and then the firms added $100 to $150 to the expenses deducted from the clients' portion of their fen-phen settlements for those "fictitious medical records." She alleges the record companies would then pay a "kickback" to employees of the firms.      Law.com

--
Ilena's Health Lover Blog
Breast Implant Awareness Blog
Breast Implant Awareness Website

Saturday, August 02, 2008

Botched Breast Implants ~ Aja Rocks


While Aja has caught the media's attention ... there are thousands of women similarly disfigured by dangerous implants. See story here.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Plastic Surgery News from HADCORP ... Thanks to Pamela!

HADCORP NEWS: July 20, 2008

Leading Story

Top TV surgeon pays six-figure damages to woman who had a stroke during facelift

Daily Mail
UK
By Chris Brooke
Last updated at 7:52 AM on 18th July 2008

A plastic surgeon has agreed a six-figure compensation payout to a woman who suffered a stroke during a facelift operation.

Diane Newbould, 53, sued Jan Stanek for negligence after she was left severely disabled, unable to speak properly and in need of lifetime care.

Mr Stanek, well-known through his role on a reality TV series, is also being sued by BBC newsreader Kate Silverton after laser treatment forced her to stay off work with an allegedly bloated face.

Mrs Newbould will never recover from the facelift and liposculpture operation at a private London hospital in January 2002.

Mr Stanek was accused of failing to take properly into account her medical history and health by going ahead with the surgery.

Yesterday Mrs Newbould's counsel, Simeon Maskrey QC, told London's High Court that Mr Stanek and the anaesthetist, who was also being sued, had agreed to a substantial settlement.

Although the payout amount was kept confidential, her solicitor, Janet Baker, revealed outside court it is 'a significant, six-figure sum'. The settlement was agreed without any admission of liability.

Based in Wimpole Street, London, Mr Stanek is considered to be a leading surgeon and has a high public profile after appearing in the Five series Plastic Fantastic, and the Channel 4 programme 10 Years Younger.

In documents before the court, Mrs Newbould's lawyers alleged not enough account was taken of her 'poor medical history'.
She was obese, a heavy smoker and her medical problems included bronchitis and hypertension.

They claimed she should have been told to 'undergo significant lifestyle changes' - particularly to lose weight and cut down on cigarettes - before surgery.


Mr Maskrey told the court that Mrs Newbould, formerly from Sheffield, was cared for after surgery by her husband, until that became impossible when he suffered two strokes.

The couple recently moved to southern Spain, where Mrs Newbould is cared for by her daughter and son-in-law.

Mr Justice Cranston approved the settlement after a brief hearing today. The family was not in court.

Miss Baker said after the hearing that the family were 'very happy' that the matter had been settled and the payout would be used to cover the costs of future care.

In January Miss Silverton reportedly instructed lawyers to begin legal action after she had treatment at Mr Stanek's clinic.

She said: 'I was told it would be a routine procedure and I'd be back to work in days.

'The treatment, however, caused a massive skin reaction.'
Mr Stanek, an Oxford-educated fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, is a frequent lecturer on 'aesthetic surgery' and has published journal articles and books.

His practice's website refers to operations on more than 10,000 patients in the past 20 years and treatments offered include tummy tucks and breast and cheek implants.




Cosmetic doc fired for 'impairment'

Two other Beth Israel allegations date to '01

Boston Herald
United States
By Jessica Fargen
Sunday, July 20, 2008

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center has fired a high-profile plastic surgeon - who once criticized third-rate cosmetic doctors during a "Dateline NBC" expose - after an "impairment" issue during a surgery he conducted last month.

Dr. Loren J. Borud, 44, was fired effective Friday, the hospital said in a statement. The firing came two days after the Herald began inquiries into two previous allegations of impairment involving Borud that date to 2001. Two medical sources said Borud had been disciplined internally by the hospital twice in the past seven years.

The Board of Registration in Medicine, which investigates complaints against Massachusetts doctors, has been notified, the hospital said.

Borud was suspended June 30 following a June 27 incident at the hospital, said Kenneth Sands, the facility's senior vice president of health care quality. He would not say when the decision was made to fire Borud.

He also would not specify the nature of Borud's "impairment."

"This is a timely action related to timely events," Sands said.

The Borud incident occurred three days before an unrelated wrong-site surgery was performed at the Harvard-affiliated hospital, prompting a state investigation.

Borud runs Loren J. Borud Plastic Surgery, which operates out of Beth Israel and offers Botox, breast implants, liposuction and other cosmetic procedures.

According to his business Web site, Borud is certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and is a full-time faculty member at Harvard Medical School, teaching in the Plastic Surgery Residency Program.
"We pride ourselves on providing the individual care and attention of a private practice setting with the impeccable safety standards and resources of a top-tier Harvard hospital," the site says of Borud, who appeared in a 2005 "Dateline NBC" report on third-rate cosmetic surgery abroad.

Telephone and e-mail messages left for Borud on Friday and yesterday were not returned. He did not answer the door at the home in Newton listed as his address.

Borud is on medical leave "at the moment," according to an automatic e-mail reply generated from Borud's hospital account yesterday. His attorney, Bruce Singal, declined to comment.

In an interview Thursday, Sands declined to comment on Borud's work history. Asked if the hospital knew of alleged impairment issues prior to June 27, Sands replied:

"We followed all required and recommended processes, making use of the Physician Health Services in Massachusetts," a program of the Massachusetts Medical Society. "That is considered the best option in these cases."

Physician Health Services is a nonprofit corporation that provides confidential consultation and support to physicians, residents and medical students facing health concerns related to alcoholism, substance abuse and behavioral or mental-health issues.

Borud's "physician profile" on the Web site for the Board of Registration in Medicine lists no record of reportable hospital disciplinary action in the past 10 years.

By law, hospitals are required to notify the Board of Registration of suspension of privileges imposed on a physician, said Russell Aims, a spokesman for the board.

Dr. Sidney Wolfe, who directs the Health Research Group at Public Citizen, the consumer safety group founded by Ralph Nader, said what's made known to the public about physician behavior can sometimes differ from reality.

"Why should a patient not know that a physician in whose hands they are placing themselves has a substance-abuse problem, particularly when they are allowed to continue operating?" he said, speaking generally and not about this particular case.

"Wouldn't you as a patient like to know whether this doctor has a substance-abuse problem? There is a strong argument from a patient perspective that once someone has problems serious enough to go into a treatment program and they are practicing medicine it should be made public," Wolfe said.




Cowboy clinics 'will scar thousands'

Plans to end inspections of cosmetic surgeries is likely to lead to many more patients being burnt or seriously scarred, admits government report

guardian.co.uk
UK
Denis Campbell and Rowan Walker
The Observer, Sunday July 20, 2008

Thousands of people undergoing laser treatment could be left with burns and scars as a result of government plans to end inspections of clinics, the Department of Health has admitted.

Up to 3,400 more patients could be harmed by cosmetic procedures to remove a mole, tattoo or unwanted hair, according to a consultation paper on the move drawn up by Whitehall officials themselves. The change, which critics claim will allow cowboy operators to open premises that have poor safety standards because they would no longer need to apply for a licence, comes into effect on 1 October.

A two-page appendix to the paper, headed 'Deregulation of lasers and lights - possible effect on the number of adverse incidents', said that harmful outcomes may double. It reads: 'Laser and light treatments ... are potentially harmful and they will generate adverse incidents ... Deregulation would generate an extra 1,700-3,400 adverse incidents per year.' There are already an estimated 3,400 each year.

'It's shocking that the government is prepared to countenance thousands more people being injured as a result of this deregulation - and it's an astonishing thing to admit,' said David Gault, a consultant plastic surgeon who specialises in laser treatments. 'While some of these "adverse incidents" involve only minor scarring or pigmentation, people's sight can also be damaged by a powerful laser being shone into their eyes. The psychological harm from these things happening is, in my view, harsher than the physical damage people suffer,' added Gault, the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons' spokesman on the issue.

Skin laser treatments are a booming area of the cosmetic surgery industry, with an estimated 340,000 performed in England alone annually. They are also used to remove wrinkles, freckles and unsightly 'spider veins'. Previously only found in specialist hospitals, laser machines are increasingly used in beauty salons and hairdressers. Ministers have been criticised for scrapping the existing system whereby the Healthcare Commission, the NHS watchdog for England, inspects and monitors the safety of the 900-plus laser clinics.

Critics have argued that the change, designed to lighten the commission's workload, will end up costing more money than is saved.

The paper said: 'Based on the estimate of increasing the number of adverse incidents by between 1,700 and 3,400 cases, this represents a yearly extra cost of treating these cases of between £900,000 and £1.8m.' The costs, it added, were likely to fall on the NHS.

That compares with £1.4m a year spent by the watchdog conducting initial inspections of laser surgery premises when they first register, monitoring annual self-assessment forms submitted by clinics and carrying out a further safety visit to all 922 licensed premises every five years.

Health campaigner Jenny Driscoll of the consumer organisation Which?, which has exposed malpractice in the cosmetic surgery industry, said: 'It's shameful and absolutely inexplicable that the government is introducing a policy that it admits will ultimately lead to more people being harmed. It's shocking that it could do this, especially when so many people have said "don't do this because more people will be harmed if you do".'

Even the Independent Healthcare Advisory Services, which represents cosmetic surgery operators, is opposed. 'The government's proposal means that anyone could purchase low-cost, low-quality non-approved equipment and operate it anywhere without any training or safety considerations on vulnerable adults as well as children,' said spokesman Paul Stapleton.

In a letter last week to Which? the health minister Ben Bradshaw defended the plan as 'the right way to proceed'.

A department spokeswoman said the planned deregulation of laser treatment clinics was part of wider moves to 'ensure regulation [of independent healthcare facilities] remains proportionate to the risks'.

'I felt burning ... it looked like a disease'

Danielle Brown, a 31-year-old PA, tells of the after-effects of laser treatment.

'A friend of mine had her hair removed by laser at a clinic on the south coast and she looked amazing, I wanted the same. On arrival at the clinic, they gave me a patch test. I was supposed to wait 24 hours, but within an hour I was receiving treatment, which lasted five hours.
'I had a bit of tingling, but the laser was only set at a low frequency.

The second time I went I felt burning almost straight away. The power on the laser had been increased and I got badly burnt on my arms, under arms, bikini line, on the back of my legs. I was told it was normal and I would need eight sessions. The next day the burns started to blister up , my skin was popping. I rang the clinic to explain but they weren't interested. I looked like I had a disease and everybody asked me what had happened.

'It wasn't until I went to another clinic two years later, that I realised the machine that they had used on my Sudanese skin was meant for white skin only. I think I will be scarred for life.'




Dying patient left alone for 30 minutes

Court documents detail death of realtor; college had concerns about risks at cosmetic clinic

Hamilton Spectator
Hamilton,ON,Canada
July 19, 2008
ROBERT CRIBB
TORSTAR NEWS SERVICES
TANYA TALAGA

The young real-estate agent who died last year after a liposuction procedure at a Toronto doctor's office was lying in a recovery room for 30 minutes with no vital signs before anyone called 911, according to allegations filed in court.

Documents detailing the death of realtor Krista Stryland also show that the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario had concerns about risks to patients being treated at Dr. Behnaz Yazdanfar's busy cosmetic clinic as far back as 2002.

And just over two months before Stryland's death, another patient had serious complications after five litres of fat were liposuctioned from three body parts in a single session, according to court documents. The college alleges that Yazdanfar previously told the college that she only removes under two litres of fat at a time, and only performs liposuction on one body area per procedure. That patient survived and her family has complained to the college as well.

Stryland, 32, died on Sept. 20, 2007. The young mother had gone to the Toronto Cosmetic Clinic for liposuction. Both the hospital doctor who later tried to revive her and the coroner suggest the delay could have contributed to her death.

The college is seeking a court order to compel Yazdanfar's co-operation in its investigation of her medical practice. The court hearing is Tuesday. In support of the application, the college has filed hundreds of pages of documents. Some remain subject to a publication ban or have portions blacked out. This story is based on documents in the public domain.

Yazdanfar is not accredited as a plastic surgeon and holds no surgical designation. A Star investigation last fall documented the college's dithering around regulation of the rapidly expanding field of cosmetic surgery.

Today, hundreds of MDs without recognized surgical training continue to perform cosmetic procedures in private offices over which the college has limited oversight.

The court documents reveal a lengthy history of college involvement in Yazdanfar's practice.

Tracey Tremayne-Lloyd, a Toronto lawyer representing Yazdanfar, said each of the issues raised by the college over the past six years was "addressed and rectified."

"(Stryland) suffered her unfortunate complication in the recovery room. The surgery went perfectly fine. It was in recovery that something happened to the patient. The patient took a very sudden downturn that had to be dealt with as an emergency," Tremayne-Lloyd said.

Back in 2002, the college looked into a complaint about her lack of formal training. Yazdanfar told investigators she had taken "a course in liposuction in Colorado the previous spring and had been performing the procedure since then," court records show. Because the college had no specific standards for cosmetic surgery, the investigator concluded the doctor's training was "adequate but not extensive."

The next year, a college-appointed plastic surgeon was asked to assess Yazdanfar's practice. He concluded she had the "skill, knowledge and judgment to safely practice liposuction," but found several areas where her practice fell "below an acceptable standard of care."

For example, the assessment report said Yazdanfar's assistant, an Iranian nurse, "is not actually a registered nurse in Ontario and has not taken the College of Nurses Licensing exams." The report called Yazdanfar's practice of delegating duties such as infusions (giving fluids by intravenous) to the nurse "an unacceptable standard of practice."

Documents filed in court by Yazdanfar indicate those problems were subsequently remedied.

Other documents in the file raise alarm bells about patient safety in the years leading up to Stryland's death.

A college letter to Yazdanfar in April, 2004, stated the college was "quite troubled by the lengthy list of deficiencies at your facility, relating to sterilization and infection control practices, lack of appropriate equipment and room allocation."

A follow-up assessment last year found the cleanliness issues had been dealt with.

Throughout the documents, the college raises issues common to its general concern about unregulated surgeries.

For example, in 2006, a college-appointed assessor raised concerns about the use of anesthesia in a private clinic where the normal "protective envelope" of a hospital is missing.

"Dr. Yazdanfar does not have hospital privileges," the assessment report says. "She should therefore have at the very least, a standing relationship with the surgical department of a hospital that would guarantee the efficient, speedy and safe transportation of her patient to that hospital for ongoing surgical care in the event that it would be necessary. Instead, Dr. Yazdanfar would refer her patients to the Emergency department and depend on the medical personnel in that department to make appropriate decisions about the management of her surgical patients. When surgical complications arise requiring transfer and admission the process should be as seamless and efficient as possible."

Two months before Stryland's death, a 66-year-old patient had complications after liposuction surgery performed by Yazdanfar, the court records allege.

In a complaint to the college filed by Francine Mendelson's daughter, she alleges her mother's "fluid loss was staggering, and the fact that she was sent home in that condition was truly unbelievable," states the complaint by daughter Dr. Stacey Mendelson, a veterinarian.

The Mendelsons allege that when Francine visited her family doctor 12 days later, he immediately sent her to emergency at North York General Hospital where staff performed an ECG that indicated serious cardiac abnormalities. She was admitted and spent five days under the care of a cardiologist. The college records allege that five litres (5,050 ml) of fat was taken from the woman's abdomen, lower back and upper back in a single session. The college alleges that Yazdanfar previously told college officials she only operates on one body area per session, and only removes one to two litres of fat at a time.

Yazdanfar lawyer Tremayne-Lloyd said the Mendelson complaint has been answered in full, including an expert report that indicates "the woman was treated entirely appropriately," and said Yazdanfar "has never breached her undertakings to the college and would never do so."

Two months after Mendelson's procedure, Krista Stryland went to the clinic for liposuction surgery. Following the birth of her only child, she wanted to lose weight. When problems emerged during her operation "the patient deteriorated in the recovery room and there was allegedly some delay in calling 911," according to a memo from a college investigator.

Based on information supplied by a doctor who attempted to resuscitate Stryland, the investigator said the doctor's understanding was that "Mrs. Stryland's vital signs were absent for 30 minutes and then an ambulance was called and Mrs. Stryland was transferred to North York General Hospital. Resuscitation efforts were ongoing for two hours."

The college investigator notes that neither Yazdanfar nor the anaesthetist accompanied Stryland in the ambulance. A nurse from the clinic did come but she was "not present during the case," the investigator's memo said.

In answer to the alleged 30 minute delay in calling 911, Tremayne-Lloyd said both her client and the anaesthetist were still at the clinic after Stryland was moved into the recovery room and "it's my understanding that (the anaesthetist) checked his patient ... I think it's highly improbable that that state of facts will be proven to be true." According to her lawyer, Yazdanfar was in the middle of another surgery, so she sent her most senior registered nurse with Stryland, who had complete knowledge of Stryland's case. "They did the best they could. There is no requirement in law that a physician accompany their patient to hospital."

At the hospital, Stryland was in cardiac arrest. Doctors tried to resuscitate her, and called in Dr. Sean Rice, a certified plastic surgeon.

Rice, in a letter to the college, describes how he called Yazdanfar at her clinic to find out what happened. Yazdanfar "stated that she was a cosmetic surgeon and had performed the operation numerous times in the past." Rice asked her if there was "the potential for a possible puncture to an internal organ" but Yazdanfar said this was not possible. "Dr. Yazdanfar then asked how the patient was doing, I stated it appeared that Mrs. Stryland was not going to survive," Rice's letter to the college says.

Another memo from a college investigator says coroner Dr. James Edwards also raised a concern about a delay in calling 911.

The college's "broad investigation" into Yazdanfar intends to determine whether she has committed "an act of professional misconduct or is incompetent," court records show.

College investigators have asked to observe her performing surgery and interview her about her "knowledge, skill and judgment in cosmetic surgery" and ask questions about "specific cases under review." The college has also requested documents from Yazdanfar including her surgical schedule and information related to two patient testimonials on her website.

Yazdanfar has declined all such requests. Her nursing staff has also declined requests from the college to be interviewed.

When the college issued the summons requiring her to meet with them and produce documents, she also refused, arguing that she is not legally obligated to co-operate with the investigation.

Tremayne-Lloyd said that while Yazdanfar has provided the college with numerous charts, appointment books and other records, she will not submit to an interview or allow a college assessor to watch her practise surgery.

"It is our position that the college wish to go way beyond their legal jurisdiction and way beyond what would be considered legally appropriate. They want to force her to allow a college inspector to stand and watch her and that expert will then become the college expert in a prosecution against her ... The whole thing strains credulity that she should be forced to do that."



Monday, July 14, 2008

Today on Dr. Phil ~ Breast Implants & Morgellons Disease

Note from Health Lover, Ilena Rosenthal:

Thanks to Jussta for this heads up (check out her very interesting
website here). 

Like the many problems from breast implants and vaccinations and
amalgams and MCS, industry mouths for hire are claiming Morgellons is "all
in your head."

I think they just haven't yet figured it out!


Dr. Phil today.

Click here for local listings.
EXCERPT: Samantha went in for simple breast implants but says she
became a plastic surgery nightmare.
In the past three years, she's had
four implants and 16 surgeries to correct what is now a deformed right
breast.


Visit our website www.BreastImplantAwareness.org

Monday, July 07, 2008

US Senators Voting 7/8/2008 on "Lupus" Bill ... important to many of you


Thanks to all who forwarded this to me ... sorry I'm getting to it so late. Here is a link with all of our Senators contact information if you wish to voice your opinions on this bill. I know that many of our support group suffer from lupus and similar diseases and many have had seizures.


 
Contact your Senators Now!
Senate to vote on Tuesday, July 8
 
Vote YES on HR 6331
 
On June 24th the House of Representatives passed H.R. 6331, the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act.  H.R. 6331 clarifies off-label drug usage, protects coverage of drugs that people with chronic diseases use, and allows coverage of select seizure medications through Medicare Part D.

Now we need your help to ensure the Senate ALSO approves H.R. 6331, the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008.

The Senate is likely to vote on this bill on Tuesday, July 8 so please contact your Senator on Monday!

Why this bill is important to people with lupus:

Clarifies off-label drug usage
- The only drugs that currently have an indication for lupus are corticosterioids including prednisone, prednisolone, methylprednisolone, hydrocortisone; hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil®); and aspirin. All other medications prescribed for lupus are considered off-label. It is important that people with lupus continue to have access to medications that are not currently approved for lupus.
• Protects special classes of prescription drugs
- If enacted, the law would require health plans to cover under Medicare Part D most classes of drugs for chronic diseases like lupus.
Provides coverage of the benzodiazepines and barbiturates
- These drugs are currently excluded under Part D. Coverage is important because some physicians may prescribe these drugs for people with lupus
who also may have seizures.




--
Ilena's Health Lover Blog
<http://ilenarose.blogspot.com>

Breast Implant Awareness Blog
<http://breastimplantawareness.blogspot.com>

Monday, June 23, 2008

MEMOIR OF A JUNK SCIENTIST by Bernard M. Patten , MD, FACP, FRSM

From Health Lover, Ilena Rosenthal: Dr. Patten is a brave doctor and fine scientist who dared to speak out about the dangers of breast implants.

"The former President of the American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery called me a junk scientist. My lame, but honest, reply is that I am a junk scientist because I have, for the last fifteen years, been studying a piece of junk. That's what the silicone breast implant was and is. Let me explain." Click here to read Dr. Patten's full explanation.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

In 1991 ... Dow Corning hired Burson-Marsteller to change Public Opinion on Breast Implants


Note from Ilena Rosenthal:  
Some people call public relations campaigns "boogey men."

A anonymous Plastic Surgeon calls this plan, a "medical-industrial complex conspiracy theory."

I call it the early strategy meetings of an enormous propaganda team created to buoy up the breast implant industry who have paid huge money to change public opinion.



Dow Corning & Burson-Marsteller Public Relations firm manipulate Public Opinion (1991)

The following document was obtained in discovery in the breast implant litigation. It contains a detailed proposal by Burson-Marsteller Public Relations of october 14, 1991 outlining Dow's public relations efforts prior to anticipated FDA hearings on the saftey of Breast Implants. Click here for the early PR plan that has developed into a full scale propaganda campaign, joined with vaccination / chemical industry monies.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Medtronic Med Device Fails Bridget Robb twice ... No Recourse



In February, 2008, the US Supreme Court gave the medical device makers a multi-billion dollar free ride. The Justices ruled that if the FDA gave the gold standard of 'safety' to a device such as breast implants or heart defibrillators, that alone would protect them from lawsuits. See article here.

Young mother, Bridget Robb is one of millions who may be harmed by this decision. When her Medtronic defibrillator failed nearly killed her, she was further stunned to find that her device had been 'recalled' ... but she never received a notice from Medtronic. She then learned that she had no recourse. Full story here.

This brave woman testified before the Senate on this travesty of justice, along with Thomas O. McGarity, professor of law at the University of Texas, and co-author of a recent book, "Bending Science: How Special Interests Corrupt Public Health Research."

I recall when breast implant maker Mentor had a 'recall' of over 10,000 units some years ago, and yet no woman nor plastic surgeon I asked out of dozens, had ever heard about it.

More on Bridget here.

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Humantics Foundation applauds Joyce Attis & the Breast Implant Line of Canada

Breast Implant Line of Canada is pleased to announce the launch of it's web-site as of late last night. Please click:

www.breastimplantlineofcanada.org

There are changes to be made - some within the next few days and others within the weeks and months ahead.

We are pleased that it did get up prior to the May 27th Appeal of a Class Action for Attis vs. HMQ.

This site will offer many Canadian women the opportunity to gain information to make healthy decisions.

My deepest to Laura, Dana, and Lorna. I greatly appreciate your contributing your skills, experience, time, and understanding to this project. I am in awe of your talents.

S. Joyce Attis
President/Spokesperson
Breast Implant Line of Canada

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Canadian Government Declares Silicones (Etc.)Toxic to Environment ... but not to Human Beings ? ? ? ?



From Health Lover, Ilena Rosenthal

WoW. While I am thrilled to see that the Canadian Government is taking seriously the many concerns regarding various synthetic chemicals ... silicones included.

This statement, however, sounds like it comes straight from the doublespeak of George Orwell's "Ministry of Truth" in 1984.

EXCERPT: "The government concludes these synthetic chemicals do not pose a risk to human health, but rather should be declared toxic to the environment."

What ? ? ?

Dr. Zuckerman's words are true and clear:

EXCERPT: "A more accurate assessment would have been to say that the health hazards are unknown for individual use of products with D4, because they have not been adequately studied. I would think that women of childbearing age would be especially concerned about having breast implants because of possible infertility problems that could
result from D4."

I'm still astounded the Canadian Government can claim no possible risk to human life, when this science mentioned below is unfolding:

EXCERPT: "The government's newly released risk assessment of D4, found in silicone breast implants, states the synthetic chemical impairs fertility. It also flags a finding of the Danish Environmental Protection Agency, identifying the liver as a "target organ for D4 exposures."

Please help us keep the pressure on Health Canada ... it's time for
them ... and the FDA ... to stop caving into the demands of the
medical device makers. C
lick here for article:

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

EXCELLENT NEWS: Silicone gel implants may lose approval in Canada!

Key chemicals could be declared toxic.

Health Canada may have to reverse its controversial 2006 decision to allow women to get silicone gel-filled breast implants if it proceeds with a plan to declare key chemicals found in them to be toxic, experts say.

Health Canada is expected to announce Friday its plans for synthetic chemicals found in silicone fluids as part of a risk assessment of 200 chemical substances, identified as top priorities for action because they are potentially harmful to human health or the environment.

It has already written to industry, explaining that "in the absence of additional relevant information," the government is "predisposed to conclude, based on a screening assessment, that this substance
satisfies the definition of toxic (under the) Canadian Environmental Protection Act."

A toxic declaration about the Cyclohexasiloxane family, also known as D4, D5, D6, would start a process that could lead to a ban in certain products, as with bisphenol A in baby bottles.

"The different departments at Health Canada have been a bit of a dysfunctional family that don't listen to one another. If the environmental assessment decides this should be toxic, there should be a duty of the medical devices branches to study whether it should be taken off the market," said Dr. Kapil Khatter, scientific adviser for Environmental Defence.

Silicone implants were pulled from the market in 1992 amid concerns they were unsafe for women. Fourteen years later, Health Canada changed course and made them freely available to women with the caveat that "no medical device is 100 per cent safe."

Health Canada said it reviewed more than 65,000 pages of evidence submitted by manufacturers and more than 2,500 scientific articles in reaching its decision to grant licences to two companies to market silicone implants. Full story from Ottawa Citizen:
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=e8e8a978-f360-47f2-98bf-35b8ff6a42f4.

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Teens Dying to Look Beautiful

National Enquirer, April 14, 2008

The national epidemic of teen breast surgery is completely unnecessary and totally wrong.
Dr. Diana Zuckerman

Dangerous & unwarranted procedures need to stop, say experts.

This beautiful teenager wanted the perfect body ... and her Plastic Surgeon used the loophole of assymmetry to go around the FDA mandate that women must be at least 22 years old before getting implants.

This tragedy should never have happened ... plastic surgeons to this day, are denying the very real risks of this surgery.

Thanks to Kathy Nye for this info ... read her story here.


Sunday, March 30, 2008

LOOPHOLES ALLOW PLASTIC SURGEONS TO CIRCUMVENT RULES ABOUT BREAST IMPLANTS

Excellent article and a follow-up to the tragedy of this beautiful young cheerleader here.

I concur with Dr. Zuckerman's comments:

I had a young woman tell me her plastic surgeon called an acne scar a deformity so she could get a silicone implant," said Diana Zuckerman, president of the National Research Center for Women & Families.

Similarly, I know plastic surgeons who placed saline implants for a few months, to circumvent the mandate that women under 22 could receive saline ... and then re-operated to replace them with silicone gel. This loophole I have heard about many times. (Gel replacements are allowed for women under 22 ... not first time implants.)

Monday, March 24, 2008

Florida High School Varsity Cheerleader Dies after Breast Implant Surgery

A West Boca Raton High School Senior died from complications after undergoing a breast augmentation, friends say.
Stephanie was a Senior at West Boca Raton High School

Stephanie was a Senior at West Boca Raton High School

Note from Ilena Rosenthal: The FDA mandates that women must be at least 22 years old to get breast implants. How & why did this Plastic Surgeon circumvent this? Full story here.

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Birmingham, the world is watching. ~ Federal Breast Implant Judge, Samuel C. Pointer Dies


Banner courtesy of Judith Patience, Photo by Kathy Nye

Judge Pointer is dead. Here is a Birmingham article on his passing.

As his loved ones mourn his loss, we also mourn the loss of justice for hundreds of thousands of women harmed by faulty breast implants who received little or no compensation, much based on his ill fated, so called, science panel.

His rulings that gave, in our opinion, almost a free ride to the manufacturers, made sense when upon his retirement as a judge.

Pointer went to work for Lightfoot, Franklin, & White ... a veritable Who's Who of Corporate America, whose clients include Bristol Myers Squibb and Baxter (both former implant makers) as well as tobacco and pharmaceutical and oil giants (to name but a few).

After several of us made a peaceful protest on the courthouse lawn and attended hearings of his Science Panel in 1999, Sally Kirkland and I published this piece to him.

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

U.S. District Judge Sam C. Pointer, Jr., Federal Courthouse,
Birmingham, Alabama
May 5, 1999

Birmingham, the world is watching.


To The Honorable Judge Pointer,

After witnessing Dr. Hulka under cross examination in your courtroom April 21st, the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute right around the corner was a fresh breath of hope.

In the early 60's, equality for our black citizens also seemed but a dream. Equally, justice for breast implant victims presently appears to be anything but imminent. You, Judge Pointer, can change that and protect millions of medical consumers from faulty medical devices.

As the sign in that historical museum read, "Birmingham, the world is watching."

Judge Pointer, the world is watching you, your courtroom and your National Science Panel. Regrettably though, Benjamin Franklin's words ring loudly,

"It's such a pity that our legal system has so little to do
with justice."


After reading much of the testimony revealing manufacturer influence at so many turns, and the basic lack of curiosity of the researchers to even look in medline beyond "breast implants" to "silicone," we can't help but paraphrase:

"It's such a pity that our science panel has so little to do with science."

The responsibility you have to the health of millions of women and their offspring is awesome. In the bookstore of this Martin Luther King Museum, we had a conversation with the 20 year old clerk. He shared that at 18, his former girlfriend had gotten implants as a graduation gift from her surgeon father. Her little sister is receiving this same "gift" this year.

Judge Pointer, undoubtedly, this surgeon ~ as scores of thousands of other physicians around the world ~ has been mislead into believing that silicone and breast implants are "safe." Your Panel is continuing to disseminate this rumor to the world. Do you not feel your personal responsibility in issuing false assurances to the millions with disintegrating and leaking implants in place and those who purchase their first implants from now on?

At a FDA / Medical Devices meeting last week, the FDA could not designate what they felt an "acceptable rupture rate 3 was. You did not even instruct your NSP to investigate this serious, usually inevitable event that often results in multiple invasive surgeries. How could this have been ignored?

While widely accepted that early detection is one of the key factors in limiting the devastation of breast cancer, nowhere was the definite obstruction of good mammography by all implants even addressed. This consequence of breast implants alone, makes their presence highly unsafe.

Judge Pointer, please tell us, what can the women do to get your attention off these worn manufacturer bought, teeny, skewed, short, lopsided "studies" whose purpose was to obfuscate litigation, and onto their serious health problems?

When we heard Dr. Hulka defend the design of the Mayo study as "excellent" when she couldn't even say whether any of the control group of Mayo patients (might that bias alone not tell volumes?) had implants, or why women with one month old implants were included in a "study" investigating systemic disease, I realized that your courtroom was just very expensive
theatre. She seemed to find the concept of "latency" almost trivial.

Women spent thousands of their own dollars to have their medical records included in their cases, yet, to date, this staggering evidence of autoimmune diseases and infections and multiple surgeries is under lock and key while the Mayo and Harvard studies are yet again being presented as Commandments 11 and 12.

Millions of women with leaking and disintegrating and ruptured implants are being lulled into false assurances by your panel. Plastic surgeons are implanting between 500-750 new sets of implants every day.

What if only 10% of the women were to become ill from these never FDA approved devices? Or 25%? Or 40%?

Judge Pointer, when we conducted our peaceful Rally in from of your courtroom April 21st, we had mounted police surrounding us for our protection and your Court's.

Where is the protection for the implanted women past, present and future?

And their offspring?

What science has ever said that it is safe to gestate and nurse babies born of implanted women?

We all know that answer is sadly, "none."

Please study the records of the nearly half a million women involved in these lawsuits. And please, recognize the bias of your Panel, and re-consider the Plaintiff's Motion for their dismissal.

Judge Pointer, the world is watching.

Respectfully,

Ilena Rosenthal
Director, Humantics Foundation for Women
San Diego, CA

Sally Kirkland
Kirkland Institute for Implant Survival Syndrome
West Hollywood, CA

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Silicone Wars ~ Ides of March, Important Repost from 1999

by Ilena Rosenthal, March 15, 1999

Beware The Ides of March.

This historical date of classic betrayal and traitorism ~ March 15th ~ appears to be living up to it's reputation. Caeser and Brutus move over.

Here come The Dows!

On this date, Dow Corning's bankruptcy division, in yet another public relations blitz regarding their previously profitable breast implant division, will begin mailing a couple hundred thousand implant recipients a settlement offer for their vote.


They will continue their very expensive PR campaign to make the forgiving public believe that there is zilch ~ zero ~ nada ~ none ~ no evidence whatsoever ~ that their previous cash cow of silicone, causes harm. They will hit the media through their intricate and expansive network with "Poor Dow" and "Generous Dow" articles. They won't reveal however, that Baby Dow Corning has earned over $200 million in profit each and every year. Bankruptcy has served them well.


Nor will they remind the public that Papa Dow Chemical recently lost $4 million in Reno and an as yet unknown amount in a class action suit in Louisiana they have managed to stall. They are guilty of not only manufacturing, but for years, concealing the known dangers and risks of breast implants. Mighty Dow, in spite of the Nevada verdict Halloween, 1995, is still appealing at the federal level. They have lost all state appeals but with clever legal strategies and stonewalling, that four million dollars is still in the coffers of Dow, and the very ill plaintiff, Marianne Hopkins, is left broke with a debilitating disease similar to Multple Sclerosis.


They will fail to mention, that although marketed as "lasting a lifetime," recent studies, including one in the prestigious British Lancet (11/22/97), report a rupture rate up to 95% over 20 years. Nor will the press releases mention hidden studies done by Dow as early in the 50's and 60's whose results were buried for years. They did not want their customers to know that silicone migrated throughout the body and crossed the placental barrier. They exclude the fact that implants were once designed as a "drug delivery system," or that cockroaches dropped dead from the silicone fluid.


They will try to convince you, that it is out of their generosity, not scientific evidence, that they are paying out $3.2 billion. They prefer to be seen as the benevolent, unfairly maligned corporation, who, with no fault of their own, offer this money out of pure concern for fairness.


They will utilize their long running campaign of defaming all doctors who dare to report their findings on the damage to women's bodies and immune systems by calling them "junk scientists." They will imply that hundreds of thousands of implanted women are faking serious autoimmune symptoms and removing their ruptured implants at the whim of plantiff attorneys.

Preposterous.


Rarely admitted is the fact that no breast implant has ever been approved by the FDA for safety. Or why, as of 9/10/98, 127,500 women with silicone gel implants and an additional 49,661 with saline filled implants had reported serious adverse reactions to the FDA.


In 1995, my phone started ringing with women sharing their implant stories and I began my internet newsgroup and email list. The horrors continue to unfold today as hundreds more ill women come forward every month. Women literally and figuratively disintegrating ~ at least one whose tortured chest is being held together by mesh. Silicone in their brains, their uteri, their livers, their spinal fluid, their children.

The manufacturers have engaged implanted women as distractors causing confusion and paranoia throughout the support system, knowing that dividing the injured women disempowers them. It's as if Brutus himself taught them well to spread rumors like viruses.


What about the women?


With the pittance offered the majority of them, will they even be able to afford to remove their ruptured or disintegrating implants?

And if they vote "no," will a better offer ever come their way?

Who will cover their mounting medical bills as their immune systems break down from chemicals and known carcinogens like silica, toluene, and platinum? Health insurers are already routinely refusing coverage for implanted women.


The Silicone Issue is the slippery slope of Big Bu$ine$$. It brings attention to other dangerous devices and drugs, other toxins whose real dangers are still being minimized.


If the wealthy silicone manufacturers don't take real responsibility for their failed products, this is a public health catastrophe in the making.


Ilena Rosenthal, is Director of The Humantics Foundation for Women and author of Breast Implants, The Myths, The Facts the Women. Daily she communicates with thousands of implanted women and their families via her email lists.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Congressional Democrats To Draft Bill To Overturn Supreme Court Decision On Medical Devices

Regarding this ill advised, virtual “get out of jail free card” ruling, to benefit mightily the Med Device Industry, I was thrilled to see others equally as upset.


Senator Ted Kennedy sums it up well:


“In enacting legislation on medical devices, Congress never intended that FDA approval would give blanket immunity to manufacturers from liability for injuries caused by faulty devices.” He said that without congressional action “FDA approval will become a green light for shoddy practices by manufacturers” of medical devices. Full article here.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

HUGE NEWS: Government Concedes Vaccine-Autism Link in Federal Court!

Note from Ilena: This is a landmark case and one to make the enormous Vaccination Public Relations Teams go wild!

I highly doubt it was the 'plaintiff's' identity that sealed this case. In the breast implant debacle, one of the ways the manufacturers keep their cover up going, is with gag orders silencing the women (after paying mere pittances for their damages).


The Vaccination and Breast Implant Industries have used identical strategies (and PR people) for several years. I fully believe that breast implants (and all the chemicals and metals present), can and often do trigger disease responses much like described here ... some which may have forever remained dormant.

By David Kirby

After years of insisting there is no evidence to link vaccines with the onset of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the US government has quietly conceded a vaccine-autism case in the Court of Federal Claims.

The unprecedented concession was filed on November 9, and sealed to protect the plaintiff's identify. It was obtained through individuals unrelated to the case.

In its written concession, the government said the child had a pre-existing mitochondrial disorder that was "aggravated" by her shots, and which ultimately resulted in an ASD diagnosis. More at Huffington Post.

Friday, February 22, 2008

Bravo and thank you to Mary McDonough from the Waltons ... Attributes lupus to her silicone breast implants

Excerpt from American Profile Magazine, February 22, 2008
Visit Mary's website, In the Know.

Erin
Mary McDonough, 46, is an actress, filmmaker and inspirational speaker. The mother of a 15-year-old daughter, she is engaged and lives in Orange County, Calif. She has a recurring part on the CBS series The New Adventures of Old Christine. Diagnosed with lupus several years ago, McDonough attributes the disease to her now-removed silicone breast implants. As a result, she has become an activist to educate women about the possible dangers of implants.


Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Dangerous Precedent ~ Supreme Court Gives Med Device Industry a Free Ride Because FDA Claims Device is "Safe"

Note from Ilena: Even at a time when the FDA has admitted many of it's failings ... the Supreme Court gives the industry a free ride because this product, (like breast implants)  is considered 'safe' by the FDA.

"The FDA cannot fulfill its mission because its scientific base has eroded and its scientific organizational structure is weak." Read FDA report here (opens pdf). Full index here.


The Supreme Court is making it harder for consumers to sue manufacturers of federally approved medical devices.

In an 8-1 decision, the court ruled against the estate of a patient who suffered serious injuries when a catheter burst during a medical procedure.  More here.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Britney Spears Had Breast Implants As A Teen

Rolling Stone magazine delves into Britney Spears' troubled adolescence in their new issue – and, among other surprising revelations, claims that the singer's mother allowed her to get breast implants as a teen.

Though it was widely speculated at the time that Brit had gone under the knife, the singer denied having a boob job.

The friend adds: "When other girls did their boobs [they admitted it] and moved on, but Britney was brought up to lie about herself."

Click here for more.




Monday, February 11, 2008

Surgical Site Infections More Common Than Expected Following Breast Procedures

Infections at the incision site occurred in more than 5 percent of patients following breast surgery and cost them more than $4,000 each in hospital-related expenses, according to a new article.

Infections were more common in patients undergoing cancer-related procedures, and occurred following 12.4 percent of mastectomies with immediate breast reconstruction using an implant ... click here for more.

Monday, January 21, 2008

NYTIMES: Do My Breast Implants Have a Warranty? BRAVO & Thank You to all who contributed!

SKIN DEEP
Amaranth Productions

BE PREPARED Dr. Edward Melmed, in a scene from "Absolutely Safe," removes an older-model silicone implant that failed.




By NATASHA SINGER
Published: January 17, 2008

A NAKED woman, her left arm strategically draped over her nipples, grins beatifically at readers in an advertisement for cosmetic surgery that equates breast implants with a more durable commodity: jewels.

Amaranth Productions

NOTHING LASTS FOREVER A patient in the anti-implant documentary film "Absolutely Safe."

Krista Schell needed two follow-up implant operations within five years of her first.
Jamie Schwaberow for The New York Times

Dr. Linda Huang tells patients that implants should be removed within 10 to 15 years.

"My plastic surgeon told me that my saline implants should last forever," said Krista Schell.

Ms. Schell, 29, who lives in Thornton, Colo., and works for the State of Colorado, said she first spent $6,500 in 2003 on breast enhancement surgery with a doctor in California. She had a second operation with that doctor last April to replace a deflated saline implant whose collapse made her left breast look "hollow"; her implants were still under warranty, but she did have to pay for the trip to California and lost a week's pay, she said.

Last November, Ms. Schell had a third operation, which cost $6,000, this time with a surgeon in Denver who removed both implants as well as extensive scar tissue, she said. She also lost two weeks' wages because she had to take time off, she said. The implants had also caused rippling, a lump around one nipple and pain. "If you look at the negatives, you would talk yourself out of getting implants," Ms. Schell said.

"If the envelope has broken down and the silicone has leaked out, you are trying to get out all of that goo," said Dr. Susan E. Kolb, a plastic surgeon in Atlanta who performs three to five explantation surgeries a week. To remove scar tissue, which can adhere to muscles and to the fibrous tissue covering the ribs, some doctors mistakenly remove too much muscle or breast tissue, which can cause chest deformities, she said. Click here for full article.