Humantics Foundation

Breast Implants:   Recovery   &  Discovery

HOME SUPPORT GREATLINKS QUACKBUSTERS DEFAMATION PUBLIÇATIONS DAILY NEWS

LINKS

ACTION ALERT: Please join us. Click here to write your Government Officials and the FDA regarding approving silicone gel breast implants as "safe."

Medscape Poll ... give your opinion on studies on breast implants. Final vote tallied ... overwhelmingly that MORE STUDIES are needed.

This was my original declaration in response to the Quackbusters SLAPP suit against me.

In a 27 page decision, the Superior Court sided with me on everything and declared the entire suit to be a SLAPP suit ... a common industry technique to stifle critics and activists such as myself.

Here is Judge Richmond's Opinion of July 25, 2001.

Based on the above, the Court concludes that Section 425.16 applies to Plaintiffs' Complaint, and that no Plaintiff has established by competent evidence a probability that he will prevail on his claim. Accordingly, Rosenthal's motion will be granted, and Rosenthal will be awarded reasonable attorney's fees and costs according to proof.

Almost immediately thereafter, late Summer, 2001, Barrett & Polevoy augmented their "Rag-tag Posse" of Usenet terrorists to harass, stalk and attempt to intimidate me and others named in this lawsuit.

To this day, there are 3 of their "Posse" members who have embedded themselves amongst the breast implant support system and have stalked me, attempted to access my bank accounts, and attempted to intimidate and frighten and defame many, many, many friends and associates of mine.

Together you can see them on the SBIPrivateClub.

Here Polevoy, affecting a disguise as "Vera" obsesses over his belief that I am in Costa Rica ... and ultimately his Clubmates, Jeffcoat and Penley-Ayers, go there to hunt me down.

California Anti-SLAPP Project

Special Counsel for Defendant

Ilena Rosenthal

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

IN AND FOR THE COUNTY OF ALAMEDA

I, ILENA ROSENTHAL, hereby declare:

• Beginning in August of 1995, I took on the task of thoroughly researching the issue of breast implants. I first read Informed Consent (McGraw-Hill, 1996), the true story of a former Dow Corning Ethics Director whose wife, Colleen, suffered a myriad of serious health problems for years without any connection being made between her ill health and the Dow breast implants. Written by John Byrne of Business Week, this exposé revealed the cover-up of early Dow studies indicating the company knew silicone gel migrated and created systemic immune disorders in implanted women, and yet continued to market the implants anyway.

• For several months, I read every published study, article, and book on the topic of breast implants that I could find. I also interviewed dozens of doctors, women with implants, support group leaders, and anyone else I found with knowledge of this issue.

• I learned that over two million women have had implants and another 200,000 women were being implanted each year here in the United States. Breast implants are an extremely controversial and emotional issue that affect every aspect of a woman’s life. The silicone manufacturers and plastic surgeons were defending themselves in lawsuits involving nearly 500,000 women as plaintiffs. I am informed and believe that efforts were made to achieve a global settlement in the Lindsey v. Dow Corning Corp. class action lawsuit (In re Silicone Gel Breast Implant Prods. Liab. Litig.), No. CV 92-P-10000-S, Civ. A. No. CV94-P-11558-S, 1994 WL 578353, at *1 (N.D. Ala., Sept. 1, 1994), that led to a proposed $4.2 billion global settlement approved by Judge Pointer in 1994, but that the case is still not resolved as of April 2001. And Dow is but one of several silicone manufacturers.

• I also learned that then over 100,000 (now over 200,000) women had reported serious adverse medical complications from breast implants to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and that no breast implant had ever been approved by the FDA. Saline implants were finally given the "safe enough" FDA approval in March of 2000, after having been on the market and widely used since the 1960’s.

• My research revealed that thousands of women have undergone repeated surgeries because of their ruptured implants, lost breast tissue, suffered from a myriad of infections, and developed painful and debilitating autoimmune diseases linked to their implants. Women who have received breast implants after mastectomy fared even worse, and over a third of them needed additional surgery because of rupture, infections, and implant dislocation in just the first five years. An FDA study concluded that two out of three women with breast implants would have at least one breast implant rupture.

• I discovered that an aggressive PR campaign was being waged by silicone manufacturers, and that as a result women were receiving misinformation and that the true nature of their illnesses and injuries that were caused by their breast implants was being denied in the media. In my investigation I learned that Dow, a major manufacturer of breast implants, hired Burson Marsteller (a large public relations firm) in the early 1990’s to change the public’s perception on the true dangers of implants as shown in Dow’s internal memos from 1992. (See Exhibit A.) I came to understand and firmly believe that women were being duped by a multi-million dollar public relations campaign into believing that getting breast implants was a safe, minor procedure with virtually no major health risks.

• My research propelled me to want to do as much as I could to help educate and empower women to make an informed decision regarding breast implant surgery, because mainstream medical information appeared to present just one very positive view of this medical procedure. I was determined to distribute the information that I had learned to the women who needed to know. I also wanted them to be able to connect with each other and network to find solutions to the myriad of problems many were experiencing as a result of their implants.

• In November 1995, I created what has become the world’s largest support group for people harmed by breast implants and other silicone products. To do this, I set up the only Internet newsgroup on the topic (alt.support.breast-implant) and created an email support list which currently has several thousand readers, with more joining daily. In January 1996, I self-published the first edition of a booklet entitled "Breast Implants: The Myths, The Facts, The Women." (Exhibit B.) Several thousand copies are in circulation.

• In 1996, I took over as Director of a small non-profit foundation, the Humantics Foundation for Women, and ran it out of my home. I network and research alternate medical ways for those affected by breast implant surgery to improve their health. I also give these women a way to connect, share and learn from each other. The Foundation has also provided funds for implant removal for those with no resources for their surgery. My work has been funded, for the most part, out of my personal savings, investments, and small inheritance, at a cost of well over $100,000 to me over the last five years. I receive no income from working for this cause.

• I have published many articles critical of breast implants, and I am interviewed regularly for radio, television and magazines. I write and speak about the high rupture rates, the autoimmune illnesses, and also the enormity of the disinformation spread by public relations operations to hide the true risks of breast implant surgery. I wrote "Breast Implants: America’s Silent Epidemic," published in the January 2001 edition of Total Health Magazine. (Exhibit C.) I was also quoted in the November 2000 issue of Glamour Magazine as an expert in the field. (Exhibit D, p. 249.) My "How manufacturers created a ‘Silicone Smokescreen,’" was published in the San Diego Business Journal, August 18, 1997. (Exhibit E.) I was interviewed on the issue of breast implant safety for and quoted in the December 6, 1999, issue of Chemical & Engineering News. (Exhibit F.) My non-profit organization, the Humantics Foundation, is listed as a consumer group resource on the FDA website, and in its information booklet on the subject.

• In the course of my research and work on this very controversial health issue, I became aware of plaintiff Barrett. He heads "Quackwatch," an Internet website whose self-proclaimed purpose is to expose and eliminate what Barrett considers to be "Quackery" and "Health Fraud." (Exhibit G, p. 1.) Its Mission Statement says, "Quackwatch, Inc. … is a nonprofit corporation whose purpose is to combat health-related frauds, myths, fads, and fallacies. Its primary focus is on quackery-related information that is difficult or impossible to get elsewhere."