Are Breast Implants "Absolutely Safe?"
In 2007, the dollars spent on breast augmentation surgery in the United States was $1.5 billion. By 2012, the numbers are projected to top 2 billion per year. Statistics from The American Society of Plastic Surgeons show that breast augmentation headed the list of surgical procedures in 2008. For those women who have had mastectomies, implants will be presented as a standard part of the recovery process.
Carol Ciancutti-Leyva, director of the documentary “Absolutely Safe,” is the daughter of a cancer survivor. Her mother’s journey, from a double mastectomy to silicone implants in the early 70s – which resulted in chronic illness, formed the impetus for the film.
The documentary came out in 2007, after a ten-year struggle for funding. It is currently being booked for screenings on college campuses and is being used in classrooms devoted to women’s studies, bioethics, and public policy.
Currently, Ciancutti-Leyva is working to create strategic partnerships to mobilize an “Informed Consent” campaign about the use of breast implant devices. Her model for legislation is a New York State Law (State of New York - Article 24-E, Section 2499w New York State law) that required the state’s Department of Health to publish a booklet that must be received by every woman considering a hysterectomy. It succinctly outlines risks, complications, alternative treatments, and recuperation expectations. Presently, the FDA has a guide on breast implants, but it is not legally mandated that prospective patients receive it. The "FDA Breast Implant Consumer Handbook" was published in 2004. Ciancutti-Leyva told me that the information reads as “a cautionary tale.”
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Add a Comment18 Comments
"Absolutely Safe" is an absolute farce as a documentary. It's a strong POV film which ignores and dismisses international consensus about the risks associated with breast implants. There have been close to 2 dozen comprehensive reviews of the world literature on this subject performed by health ministries around the world which have all been consistant in their conclusions.
While I think there are certainly improvements that can be made in informed consent, this has to do more with reoperations rather then health issues.
June 17, 2009 - 9:55amThis Comment
The movie absolutely safe was so reassuring for me that my explantation was necessary. Today I feel much better and thanks to the movie know my symptoms were very real. -Mary Agramonte
June 17, 2009 - 10:11amOne has to only take a closer look at "international consensus" to realize who has funded many of these studies (ex. companies who supply implants and their big dollars) and the studies themselves like the Mayo Clinic (which refuses to be interviewed) to see how questionable these studies are. People pop these implants in like they were gum drops without any knowledge at all of the risks involved.
June 17, 2009 - 11:11amThe least that needs to be done is having informed consent along with the "FDA Breast Implant Consumer Handbook" where a patient can read about the risks involved.
What is a farce is the way our society is duped by large corporations and their profits they engender into thinking these operations are "absolutely safe"!
Absolutely Safe is a very powerful, honest look at the horrfiying concept of breast implants. The director clearly presents different viewpoints and follows one woman who wants implants put in and one who wants them taken out. The juxtaposition of these two journeys is quite powerful. The director bravely confronts a doctor who seems to not have the patient's best interests at heart. All in all a very powerful film that informed me in a much deeper way than most of the research on the subject.
June 17, 2009 - 1:22pmNever will there be TRUE informed consent especially when it comes to breast implants. "Informed Consent BEGINS with INFORMED INDIVIDUALS" - this is our slogan here at Toxic Discovery! You think when you go in for breast implants they tell you everything that is going to happen to your body? As a former surgical nurse I will tell you that is NOT the case. Breast implants are a foreign device - in another 20 years society will view this procedure as barbaric! Something that was done to women as a human experiment. Women are spoon fed from the cradle to the grave what they should look like - isn't it time we understand 'YOU CAN'T FOOL MOTHER NATURE"?
Missouri is the 2nd State in the Nation to have an Informed Consent Law concerning breast implants which was passed into law in the year 2000. We continue to be the SHOW ME STATE when it comes to protection laws against women and children.
World Literature can just be JUNK SCIENCE if not researched and studied correctly - Over 2 million women live the lie's of of so called research - Want the TRUTH? The MDL and SF-DCT hold the medical records of thousands of women who are "suffering in silence" daily and who have proven medical records that document what the Manufacturers and Plastic Surgeons really don't want you to know. That breast implants rupture and breast implants can and do make you ill.
Want more information - Call Toxic Discovery - www.toxicdiscovery.com
Kathy L. Keithley-Johnston, R.N.
June 17, 2009 - 3:37pmExecutive Director/Founder/Injured Consumer
You are absolutely 100% right. Thank you. A piece of my story is 5 below you.
Thanks, Cheryl
June 19, 2009 - 8:03pm"Absolutely Safe" opened my eyes to the dangers of breasts implants. What really angered me is that a woman with breast cancer is routinely advised by her physician to get implants as though it is all part of her treatment. Thank you Ms. Ciancutti-Leyva for making this informative film. I wish more woman would see it.
June 18, 2009 - 7:20amPlease don't confuse your political agenda with science. Breast implants are the most studied of any device used in medicine. There is no "medical-industrial" conspiracy hiding information from consumers, and the suggestion of it is pure paranoia. At the end of the day, there are hundreds of independent studies which have examined this issue, many of which are ongoing longitudinal populations. There continues to be consistant findings in these women of no immunologic, rheumatologic, and cancer related phenomena.
While you may object to the fact that many women choose breast augmentation for aesthetic appeal, it is 100% wrong to suggest that there is evidence that either saline or silicone implants cause any known illness.
June 18, 2009 - 7:28amYou can fool some of the women, some of the time...
July 5, 2009 - 7:10pmWhen are breasts like cigarettes?
Big Tobacco said for years there was no "proof" that cigarette smoking caused cancer. They influenced scientists and legislation. Now, we all know the truth.
I know that I was sick and old before my time. I had an explantation and 6 months later I felt great. Today I am well.
Eventually, there will be enough women harmed by this mutilation that the truth will override Big Pharma's influence just as it did with Big Tobacco.
Sharon Wilson
June 18, 2009 - 10:55amin Texas