Fact Long Suppressed About The Dangers of Silicone!!!

Click on (numbers) for Source.

Dow Corning's full culpability in the silicone breast implant controversy is not widely known. For decades the company

chose to keep secret a series of warning signals about silicone, and made misleading and false statements to the women

who received implants.

The original Dow Corning sales pitch, in a brochure entitled "Facts About Your New Look," promised a lifetime of

safety and satisfaction. Silicone breast implants were advertised as benign and chemically inactive.

In fact, Dow Corning had no substantial evidence of safety, but had plenty of evidence that silicone implants

were a high-risk product.

The beginning of the story goes back 60 years!!!

1950's-- Silicone injections are banned in Japan because of dangerous side effects, including immunological problems.

1954--A Dow Coming Chemical study finds that a chemical in silicone, called silica, has "quite a high order of

toxicity," but this study is not released publicly. (1)

1956-- Again a Dow Corning Chemical study calls into question the safety of silicone, and again it is concealed from

the public. Silicone fluid fed to laboratory dogs is found to migrate throughout their bodies and lodge in vital organs. (2)

1960's-- California and Nevada pass laws against silicone injections, classifying them a criminal offence.

1961 -- As Dow Corning prepares to market the first silicone breast implants the company is advised by its own

Center for Aid to Medical Research that silicone will bleed through a silicone bag and be absorbed into human tissue.(3)

Silicone leaking from implants can be equivalent to injections of silicone into the body.

1962-- Alarmed about the health dangers posed by silicone, the FDA issues strict new regulations governing silicone

injections.

1963-- Dow Corning begins selling silicone breast implants under the trade name "Silastic" without long-term testing or

monitoring of the women who receive them. No mention whatsoever is made of possible health risks, and because the

silicone is contained inside a "protective" bag the breast implants are not within the purview of the FDA regulations.

1964-- In a letter to the FDA, Dow Corning lawyers represent that liquid silicone, a major component of the

silicone-gel implant, is not absorbed by the body. However internal Dow Corning testing had already conclusively

demonstrated the exact opposite. (4)

1965-- A study finds that lumps develop under the skin when silicone enters human tissue, but Dow Corning continues

to insist that silicone is an inert substance. (5)

1967-- Dow Corning and three of its top executives are criminally indicted by a federal grandjury in Bay

City, Michigan, for permitting deliveries of silicone without FDA approval.

1968-- When silicone bags are implanted into dogs the silicone leaks out and is dispersed throughout their

systems, according to another secret study for Dow Corning. (6)

1970-- Dow Corning reports to the scientific community that implants caused no adverse health consequences in four

laboratory dogs. Later, because of the discovery process in court, it will be revealed that one of the dogs died and the

other three suffered chronic inflammation. (7)

1972-- Dow Corning pharmacologist, Don Bennett, notes in an internal memo that economic considerations are

constraining research into the biological applications of silicone. Dr. Bennett later quits in a falling-out with the company

over the lack of research.(8)

1975-- Numerous plastic surgeons complain to Dow Coming that its newly redesigned silicone implants appear oily

and seem to be leaking even before they are surgically inserted. (9) Some surgeons report that the implants appear to

have been soaked in Mazola oil. (10) One Dow Corning executive instructs company salesmen to wash and towel-dry the

implants before displaying them to surgeons, thus concealing the leakage problem. (11)

1975-- Dow Corning employees are compelled to edit a training video for plastic surgeons when implants rupture

during the filming of the video.(12)

1976-- Thomas Talcott, a senior Dow Corning materials engineer, quits in a dispute over the safety of silicone

implants. He will later tell a news reporter, "The manufacturers and surgeons have been performing experimental surgery

on humans." (13)

1976-- A Dow Coming internal study reveals that the lining of silicone implants loses strength even when sitting on a

shelf. (14)

1976-- A Dow Corning technical-services specialist, Art Rathjen, complains in a letter to his superiors about the lack

of any scientific evidence proving the safety of silicone breasts: "I have proposed again and again that we must begin

in-depth study of our gel, envelope, and bleed phenomenon.(15)

1977-- A Dow Corning marketing executive, Chuck Leach, tells a gathering of the International Society of Plastic

Surgeons that Dow Coming has a study underway on the possible seepage of silicone from breast implants. Mr. Leach

says later he had his fingers "crossed" at the time. (16) In fact, no such study existed.

1978-- Dow Coming represents in a patient brochure that "laboratory studies" prove that implants should "last a

lifetime." At the same time, Dow Corning is receiving numerous complaints of spontaneous rupture from surgeons and

sales representatives. Another senior Dow Corning engineer writes to his superiors about implanits: "When will we learn at

Dow Corning that making a product 'just good enough' almost always leads to products that are 'not quite good

enough'?"(17)

1980-- The chief of biomaterial safety for Dow Coming, William Boley, tells a private physician it is highly improbable

a woman's onset of lupus is connected to her silicone breasts. Mr. Boley claims the implants have been proven safe in

"extensive" testing, although three years later he will admit the opposite, saying there is "no valid long-term implant data to

substantiate the[irl safety,." (18)

1984-- The first woman with autoimmune disorder recovers damages. Maria Stern was awarded $1.5 million in

punitive damages. Dow Corning was found fraudulent, having misrepresented animal studies.

1985-- In an internal report by William Boley and other Dow Corning scientists, the company concludes that the

preponderance of available data suggests that silicone can produce immune-mediated diseases. (19) At the same time

Dow Coming continues to state publicly there is no evidence that silicone causes disease.

1988-- Thousands of women are believed to be experiencing complications with silicone implants, according to the

Public Citizen Health Research Group. The complaints include rocklike deformities and chronic inflammation of the

breasts, plus more serious diseases such as lupus, systemic sclerosis and neurologic dysfunction. The Food and Drug

Administration rules that breast implants should be classified high risk and mandates that manufacturers produce safety

data.

1991 -- A San Francisco jury finds against Dow Corning in a lawsuit charging the company with fraud, negligence and

product liability for not disclosing information about the dangers of breast implants. The plaintiff in the suit is Mariann

Hopkins, a woman with implants who developed a painful, arthritic-like condition.

1992-- The FDA limits the future sales of silicone implants after the "safety" data produced by the manufacturers is

ruled patently inadequate--there are no clinical studies. Under the new rules, implants can be sold only as part of

supervised clinical studies. FDA Commissioner David Kessler cites a 70-percent rupture rate as one of the problems with

implants.

1993-- For the first time Dow Coming acknowledges that silicone may not be inert, revealing that complaining

researchers found a possible link between silicone and immune-systern disease in a study on laboratory rats. The chief

medical officer for Dow Corning, Dr. Myron Harrison, is quoted as saying, "It clearly raises my concern that silicone gel

might cause immune-system disease." (20)

1994-- Lawsuits are filed against Dow Coming by plastic surgeons who claim the company damaged their medical

reputations by misrepresenting the quality of implants.

1995-- A judge rules that Dow Corning's parent company, Dow Chemical, can be held liable in lawsuits involving

silicone implants. Dow Coming files for bankruptcy protection.

Click Here For Silicone Holocaust Website