In Rebuttal: The case for cosmetic surgery
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Disturbing reports about the French manufacturer that sold faulty silicone breast implants in Europe and South America containing industrial silicone continue to hit the newsstands. These are implants that were not approved by the Food and Drug Administration and were never sold in the United States.
There is no question that women who received the so-called PIP implants should immediately contact a board-certified (or equivalent) plastic surgeon for immediate evaluation. A listing of plastic surgeons outside the United States who meet the necessary qualifications to perform any aesthetic procedure can be found on the website of the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (www.isaps.org). For a U.S.-based, American Board of Medical Specialties-certified plastic surgeon, visit the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery's website (www.surgery.org).
One lesson to be taken from this unfortunate and poor medical practice is that all surgeries are serious choices and should be done by and in consultation with a board-certified plastic surgeon, not as part of a whim or medical vacation.
This was a rare point of agreement my colleagues and I found with the Jan. 29 Post-Gazette Forum piece "Is It Time to Ban Cosmetic Surgery?" by Dutch anthropologist Alexander Edmonds, who uses fraudulent manufacturing processes in France and misguided medical tourists as a platform to justify denying millions of Americans the right to make choices about their bodies.
As president-elect of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, I would like to clarify several issues and facts discussed in Mr. Edmonds' article.
Breast implant procedures, whether using silicone or saline, do not cause "burning pain, loss of sensation, hardening of breast tissue and serious infection." There is no data in the medical literature to suggest that these complications are a quid pro quo for the millions of women who have elected to have breast implantation. In fact, the data would suggest the contrary.
Breast implants manufactured in the United States have been proven safe not only by the FDA, but through more than 30 studies published in peer-reviewed medical journals that confirm their safety; they are, in fact, the most studied device in the history of the FDA.
First Published February 27, 2012 12:00 am
