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the safety of silicone gel breast implants

Outside the United States the safety of silicone gel implants was widely accepted for many years. Women considering breast enlargement inside the United States found it hard to get reliable governmenl information because of problems at the FDA and other organizations.

The FDA's advisory panel had recommended re-introduction of silicone gel implants in the past but initially the agency rejected its own panel's advice. However in 2006 the FDA finally accepted the overwhelming scientific evidence and re-introduced the gel implants for general use in the United States. Thus following the decade long worldwide trend.

In the UK, government agencies are less vulnerable to extremist pressure groups, and an independent government report many years before stated that on the basis of the information available:

1. silicone gel breast implants are not associated with any greater health risk than other surgical implants

2. whilst it is recognised that there are a number of local complications such as capsular contracture and gel bleed, the incidence of ill- health in women implanted with silicone gel breast implants is no greater than in the general population. In particular, there is no evidence of an association with an abnormal immune response or typical or atypical connective tissue diseases or syndromes

3. children of implanted women are not at increased risk of connective tissue disease

4. the information provided to women undergoing breast implantation is often inadequate.