FastCounter by bCentral
This is in response
to a quote from Mr. Akst's article, The Lawyers Are Lurking Over S.U.V.'s in today's
New York Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/05/business/yourmoney/05CONT.html?ex=1042434000&en=f986881158d039fe&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE
Excerpt:
"In the case of silicone breast implants, for instance,
the science is quite definitive: these implants do not cause any major diseases.
Yet that made no difference in the lawsuits, which took off on the wings of sympathetic
female plaintiffs, a product fallen into social disrepute and a highly evolved,
well-financed plaintiffs' bar."
To: oped@nytimes.com
Opinion by Ilena Rosenthal
To the New York Times
Daniel Akst
is usually an excellent researcher, with a deep understanding of the power of
propaganda. However, he made a mammoth error in drawing a "definitive"
conclusion about the safety of a raging medical controversy with billions of silicone
dollars at stake.
What is definitive:
o
Well over 200,000 women have filed reports of serious adverse complications for
faulty breasts implants with the FDA.
o
A recent FDA study revealed 69% of women with silicone gel implants had at least
one rupture within just the first 17 years, frequently resulting in multiple invasive
surgeries, infections, necrosis etc. These women are left with scars and frequently
illness, rather than the "lifetime" implant they were sold.
o
National Cancer Institute researchers compared the risks for implant patients
with the general population and found that "the implant patients were two
to three times more likely to develop stomach cancer, leukemia, and cancers of
the cervix, vulva and brain." Comparing death certificates of implanted women
to a plastic surgery control group revealed even more troubling data. There were
11 cases of brain tumors of implanted women, compared to one case in the controls.
Mr.
Akst can also be assured that victims of breast implants are treated far from
"sympathetically " in the courtrooms and in the media. An excellent
illustration was his disinformative comments. Deeper research will reveal brilliance
from the Dows in legal maneuvering, while hundreds of thousands of ill and injured
women go uncompensated to date for damages from their failed implants.
Ilena
Rosenthal
Director, Humantics Foundation
1380 Garnet Ave. E444
San
Diego, CA 92109
858/270-0680
ilena2000@hotmail.com
http://www.BreastImplantAwareness.org
