Breast Implant Plaintiffs Lawyers in 'Blood Feud' Over Fees From $2 Billion Settlement

Nate Raymond    The American Lawyer
 
There's a brawl raging in the Lone Star state among some of America's
richest plaintiffs lawyers.

These three men have been fighting for years. The latest round
involves legal fees won by O'Quinn in a $2 billion settlement in a
breast implant class action. O'Quinn collected $263 million of that
money as legal fees, according to arbitrators. for more click here.

Death of Rapper's Mom Shines Light on Liposuction & Breast Surgery ... Bravo to Dr. Zuckerman for being quoted

Cosmetic surgery is so common in this town, you could forget it carries some risks.

Until someone famous dies while having a "procedure". That's what appears to have happened to Donda West, the mother of rap star Kanye West.

According to her publicist, Donda West underwent some kind of cosmetic operation (reportedly liposuction and breast reduction) at a facility in the L.A. area. Something went wrong, and she was taken by paramedics to the ER at Centinela Freeman hospital. Doctors could not revive her, and she was pronounced dead about a half an hour after she arrived.

Now, coroner's investigators will perform an autopsy to determine if she died from "complications of surgery." Donda West was 58 years old.

The fact that people can and do die from cosmetic procedures will shock many folks here. After all, plastic surgeons advertise their services on billboards and in glossy magazines. Sometimes you see them on TV news programs touting their work with "before" and "after" photos. They don't tell you that as with all surgery, there are no guarantees when it comes to safety.

Here's an excerpt from the Ethics Journal of the American Medical Association, March 2005, written by Dr. Diana Zuckerman:

Primary risks (of liposuction) include infection, damage to skin, nerves, or vital organs, fat or blood clots (that can migrate to the lungs, leading to death), and excessive fluid loss that can lead to shock or death. In addition, the different techniques are associated with complications such as skin or deep tissue damage, lidocaine toxicity, and fluid accumulation in the lungs. Despite the documented risks, the general public has an inflated sense of the benefits and a minimized sense of the risks of plastic surgery.

Breast Cancer Sells * Support Group Greetings * Raising Awareness

Dearest Friends ... near & far.

I've been so relieved to reconnect and learn many of our support group members and family members in Southern California are safe from the fires ... although breathing is proving to be hazardous to the health of many in this vast area.

How in the world did so many fires start simultaneously?

Our group  has many relatives and loved ones whose property is still in danger and the challenges are rising ... Interstate 5 is now closed ... the implications of which are more than concerning. The good news is the winds are slowing down.

Our dearest friend Joanie, long time Support Group Leader Extraordinaire in La Jolla had this soothing advice:

Thank you. I have a house full of refuges. I keep lots of boiling water with a gob of Vicks or Mentholatum on the stove boiling at all times. It keeps the air moist and helps with keeping the ash from entering your nose. If you have a chance let people here know as the air is so dry and the ash is very bad for us. Also, Zicam for allergies ( the gel) is excellent. It is homeopathic and works wonders.

 

Love you Ilena  Thanks for your prayers. Much appreciated.

I am using this stressful time to update our Website & Blog  with more & more of your stories ... we are finding it quite effective in combating some of the vast and limitless advertising / public relations volumes churned out daily by the Breast Implant Industry.

Here are a couple of newer entries ... please meet these wonderful people.

Lyn's Story
Anthony's Story
Dede's Story
Sue in England's Story

Note from Ilena:
The quote below shows the depths the breast implant / breast cancer industry goes down to, to market their highly profitable product.


AlterNet
Breast Cancer Sells By Lucinda Marshall, AlterNet Posted on October 24, 2007

EXCERPT: This year there is even called Beyond Breast Cancer that cheerfully proclaims that there are "10 Good Things About Breast Cancer."

According to the bubblegum-colored magazine, one perk is a pair of new boobs that "will face the horizon, not the South Pole.' Better yet, they will be paid for by insurance.



  Whole article here:

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

FDA Allowing Mentor to Drop Women From Study & DeLauro Letter To FDA

This is very, very serious information. Mentor is trying hard to be released from the conditions that were put in to the FDA 'approval'. Thanks to all who are circulating this and acting on it. Thanks to Sandra and her dad for putting this together.

www.BreastImplantAwareness.org/

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Adriana Surfas
Thursday, October 11, 2007
(202) 225-3661

FDA Ignoring Requirement for Post-Market Surveillance of Breast Implants

Less than one year after approval, FDA allows company to change study requirement Washington , D.C. – Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (Conn. – 3), as part of an on-going effort to ensure that science – and not corporate interests – informs decisions within the Food and Drug Administration, sent a letter to Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, FDA Commissioner, seeking information regarding a change in a mandatory post-market requirement for silicone breast implants.

Earlier this year, Mentor , a manufacturer of silicone breast implants, announced that the FDA approved an amendment to the company's Post Approval Study Protocol that eliminated a mandatory requirement that each patient receiving silicone breast implants be enrolled into a study.


The FDA approval of silicone breast implants last November was based on a number of conditions that the manufacturers were to follow, and those conditions already appear to be changing less than on year after their approval.

"If true, this raises serious policy questions regarding the FDA's post marketing approval process," DeLauro stated. "This also raises serious questions about the FDA's ability and willingness to conduct the new post-market safety measures that were recently enacted in the new Prescription Drug User Fee Act.

If industry will be able to dictate the terms and conditions of the post-market studies required under PDUFA, it will be rendered useless."

In May of this year, Rep. DeLauro introduced The FDA Scientific Fairness for Women Act, which would rescind the approval of silicone breast implants if their safety has not been conclusively demonstrated for the life of the implant.

This bill has been endorsed by the National Research Center for Women and Families, Breast Cancer Fund, National Women's Health Network, NOW, Reproductive Technologies Project, Our Bodies Ourselves, In the Know and Command Trust Network.

Additionally, the legislation would require the FDA to convene a scientific workshop on the use of emergency contraception by young women under the age of 18 and elevate the Office of Women's Health within the FDA so that it reports directly to the Commissioner. Below is the full text of the letter:

October 11, 2007

The Honorable Andrew von Eschenbach, M.D.
Commissioner Food and Drug Administration
5600 Fishers Lane Room 14-71 Rockville, MD 20857

Dear Dr. von Eschenbach:

I am writing to express concern about the potential amendments to Mentor's MemoryGel Breast Implants Post Approval Study (PAS) Protocol. Silicone breast implants were approved based on a number of conditions that Mentor and Allergen were to follow, and less than one year after their approval, the conditions appear to be changing. If true, this raises serious policy questions regarding the FDA's post marketing approval process.

Mentor announced on May 2 that the FDA approved an amendment to the PAS protocol, which removed a mandatory requirement that each patient receiving silicone breast implants be enrolled into a study. The announcement claimed that the amendment was a response to feedback from Institutional Review Boards and physicians who were concerned about the restriction of patient access to silicone breast implants. What specific data was provided to the FDA to justify this request?

Was an advisory board called or asked about the change? In addition, please provide a status report of the post- approval studies for saline breast implants made by Mentor and McGhan (now Allergan). As a condition for approval in 2000, both companies were required to continue their 3-year safety studies for an additional 7 years, so these 10-year studies should be completed this year.

However, when the FDA held a public meeting to discuss the 5-year data in July 2002, Mentor did not have follow-up health data on most of their patients. Since the same companies are also responsible for 10-year post-market studies of silicone gel breast implants, the quality of their 10-year studies of saline breast implants, and the rigor of FDA's monitoring of those studies, is an important indication of whether the FDA will exercise its regulatory authority on the silicone gel breast implant studies or any other required post-market studies. As part of this request, please include information about the number of women initially enrolled in each study, the number of women for whom data regarding health and complications were collected at 3 years, 5 years, 7 years, and 10 years, the results of the studies, and the FDA's assessment of the quality of the studies and the implications for patients.

Please also include all appropriate information pertaining to Mentor's request, such as information about FDA's internal process for considering it, and the current status of post- marketing studies and conditions. All documents (electronic or hard copies), internal memoranda, communications, data, public input, and notes pertinent to this consideration also would be appreciated.

I look forward to your timely response.

Sincerely, ROSA L. DeLAURO
Chairwoman House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies

Bravo & Welcome to Gretchen's Beautiful New Site ... My Implant Story

My Implant Story

'I had the world's first breast job - and endured years of misery ...'

Thank you so much to Kathy Nye ... click here for her website.
Dawn Beaven mentioned in this article has long been a part of our support group and heads a British support group. See her Silicone Survivors UK website here.

Hi Ilena, Kathy of Toxic Discovery and I were on the Leeza show with Timmie ... the first woman to have silicone gel implants.

'I had the world's first breast job - and endured years of misery ...Daily Mail - UK

...As the first woman to receive silicone breast implants, she has paved the way for more than two million women to undergo surgical enhancements

Here's the story in the Daily Mail.

O'Quinn Lawyer Ordered to Pay Clients $35.7M for more than 3,000 clients

 

Lawyer Ordered to Pay Clients $35.7M
Associated Press 07.19.07, 8:05 PM ET

 
 
HOUSTON - Prominent trial lawyer John O'Quinn has been ordered to pay at least $35.7 million to more than 3,000 former clients for improperly deducting expenses from settlements he won for them.

With interest and attorneys' fees, O'Quinn might have pay as much as $60 million.

"Quite simply, if O'Quinn is allowed to improperly withhold client funds with impunity, other lawyers may believe that they can do likewise. Such a result would destroy the very integrity of the special and unique relationship that exists between attorney and client," according to a final order released Thursday by a three-person arbitration panel that decided the case. Click here for more.

 

NYTimes: Former Surgeon General Says He Was Muzzled

Former Surgeon General Says He Was Muzzled

By REUTERS

EXCERPT:

Carmona said some of his predecessors told him, "We have never seen it as partisan, as malicious, as vindictive, as mean-spirited as it is today, and you clearly have worse than anyone's had."

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The first U.S. surgeon general appointed by President George W. Bush accused the administration on Tuesday of political interference and muzzling him on key issues like embryonic stem cell research. click here for full article

Bush's Former Surgeon General Blasts Administration

By: Nicole Belle

Click here for video.

CAMERON DIAZ: I will never get breast implants

CAMERON DIAZ: I will never get breast implants.

click here for article

ORIGINAL BREAST IMPLANT MOVIE!! "Two Small Voices"

From: Pamatintheknow@aol.com www.InTheKnow.org
Subject: Re: ORIGINAL BREAST IMPLANT MOVIE!! "Two Small Voices"

Hi Ilena,

Please consider sharing this with your mailing lists. This movie is the actual history of the beginning of the breast implant controversy and how it all got started.

THANKS as ALWAYS,

Pam

AMAZON.COM has just begun selling "Two Small Voices", the film that was done for Lifetime TV about the breast implant issue nearly 9 years ago.

When the movie was made and first released for t.v., the manufacturers prevailed upon the network to change specific references to "the Meme," an implant sold by Bristol Meyers and to Dow Corning. They further required a 5 minute tag done by Linda Ellerbee outlining the controversy about implants from a more pro-manufacturer point of view. That version of the movie has been seen around the world, many times, over the past many years.

The version being sold on AMAZON.COM is the ORIGINAL version of the movie without the changes required by the manufacturers. It does not have the Linda Ellerbe tag either.

Although the movie is somewhat dated (it now costs nearly $15,000 to remove implants as opposed to the $5,000 number mentioned in the movie), it still is important to watch by women considering implants. Women need to know history so that history is not repeated. And the history is in that movie.

Ladies, PLEASE consider ordering a copy of this movie....

We NEED for women to put their opinions about Two Small Voices on Amazon.com so that we can use it as one more forum to get the word out on breast implants.

Almanac ... July 8, 1998 ... Dow Corning Reaches Settlement Agreement for Women Harmed by Their Products

Almanac  ... Sunday July 8, 1998

In 1998, a tentative settlement was reported between Dow Corning Corp.
and lawyers for 170,000 women who claimed they had become ill from the
company`s silicone breast implants.

 

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

 

Nine years later ... a very large percentage of the women have received no compensation ... and the last figures I saw was less than $10,000 per woman had been paid out for years of surgeries, scars and failed implants. Many women have given up hope ... others have died.

 

Blessings to all from Ilena

 

http://breastimplantawareness.blogspot.com

 

'SICKO' by Michael Moore ~ BRILLIANT ~ Must See!!!

Bravo to Michael Moore for taking on and exposing the Medical Industrial Complex!

This movie opened in the US on June 29th ... hope everyone sees it soon! Here's a website SICKO TIX for tickets.

We got to see it on Google Video before it was removed a couple of weeks ago.

Here's the official homepage clip.

Click here for an outstanding interview ... Bill Maher and Michael Moore talk about how corporatized healthcare is not working for the benefit of the patients.

Most women who believe the industry rap that breast implants are safe, sign up for a lifetime of surgery and medical care ... increasingly with no medical insurance.

Personally, I have had thousands of stories of American healthcare failing women from our breast implant group shared with me ... and I highly recommend this sensational ... hopefully pivotal film.

Michael Moore's Website discusses the corporate backlash against this film .... some industry flacks are going to get way rich spinning this documentary wonder.

Here's an earlier article from the International Herald Tribune: "Sicko" offers new talking points on health care.

http://ilena-rosenthal.blogspot.htm/
http://breastimplantawareness.blogspot.htm/

Just watched an incredible movie ... Freedom Writers, and feel very inspired to encourage the women and their families in my international support group ... to write and share their stories even more.Please visit my homepage, Breast Implant Awareness.org to meet several brave women who have shared their breast implant related stories.

More to come.

With love from Ilena