Are Breast Implants "Absolutely Safe?"
Dow Corning’s quintessential company man, John Swanson, and his wife Colleen – who had implants – weigh in with John Byrne (Executive Editor of BusinessWeek), who related their story in his book Informed Consent. A classic whistleblower’s tale, Swanson was forced to choose between his corporate affiliation and his relationship to his wife – who believed her lupus and scoloderma symptoms were related to her implants. (Her fears were confirmed when the implants were removed and discovered to be ruptured.) Swanson characterizes the corporate denial as being induced by the profit factor. Byrne posits that the manufacturer never proved the implants were safe, because they didn’t do the due diligence or adequate research in clinical studies to make a conclusion.
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"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.
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
One 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.
The 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.
Never 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.
Executive Director/Founder/Injured Consumer