Letter for Allan Rock

Date: Wed, 08 Dec 1999 12:10:27 -0800

I.A.S. IMPLANT AWARENESS SOCIETY

102 - 6086 Boundary Drive West

Surrey, B.C. V3X 2B3

Telephone: (604) 572-8486

December 8, 1999

The Honourable Alan Rock

Minister of Health

Government of Canada

Dear Sir:

It is imperative that funding be restored for Dr. Robert Guidoin’s research into the devastating effects of breast implants that was being conducted at Laval University. It is also imperative that funding be provided for further research into all aspects of the breast implant fiasco.

Recent publicity has stressed the results of the IOM report as proving that implants do not cause specific diseases and therefore are safe. Nothing could be further from the truth. The IOM report was a rehash of older reports that were sponsored and paid for by the manufacturers. While the reports did not prove that breast implants caused specific diseases they did not prove safety nor did they even say that implants were safe. No breast implant has been proven safe. We all remember how the cigarette manufacturers claimed that there was no proof that cigarette smoking was detrimental to a person’s health years ago.

There is ample evidence to prove that all types of breast implants can cause illness, anywhere from mild to severe. This evidence is either ignored by the manufacturers and plastic surgeons or they try to discredit it and the researchers. "Anecdodal", they cry, "junk science". The only real junk science appears in their reports.

The manufacturers claim that the women are greedy and are egged on by even more greedy lawyers. The lawyers would not be involved if there was not solid evidence. The reality is that the women have become so ill that they cannot work. The ones who do not have supportive husbands or other family must rely on disability pensions and welfare. These women are not only losing their health but also their jobs, husbands, homes, and dignity.

It is time to end this disaster. Soy oil implants that were being tried on an experimental basis were removed from the market after they were found to be dangerous. Women who had them were encouraged to have them explanted. The time has come to ban all breast implants until such time as they are proven safe and to stop using women as guinea pigs for the fun and profit of manufacturers and plastic surgeons.

Most of all, it is time to support the women, children, and families whose lives have been destroyed by these insidious instruments of pain and illness. They are not life saving devices. They are strictly cosmetic no matter what the reason for implantation. Women who have a mastectomy because of cancer or the fear of cancer do not need a further attack on their immune system.

Some people say that the women asked for what happened to them. The truth is, they were told that implants were inert and could not possibly cause disease and that the implants would last for a lifetime. That was a lie. The women’s only sin was a desire to look better, to feel better about themselves, or to be admired. Surely, this does not deserve a life sentence.

We realize that there are many things that deserve research money but many of them can easily get corporate support. The breast implant issue is not a popular one. Government funding is our only hope. Please listen to the cries of distress coming from every corner of our country. We need action now from you whom we have elected to protect our health.

Sincerely,

Richard D. Matthew

Treasurer