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Implant/explant
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Implant/explant
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IMPLANT/EXPLANT by Tina Vaughan A Thesis Presented to the FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER OF ARTS JOURNALISM (BROADCAST JOURNALISM) May 2007 Copyright 2007 Tina Vaughan ii Dedication For all of the people that strive to be perceived as good enough, but who already are just by existing. Also, for Dan Birman who is always “on call” for all of us. And for my parents Phil and Cindy, who always keep the love flowin'. iii Table of Contents Dedication ii Abstract iv Script 1 Bibliography 34 iv Abstract The documentary reviews the lives of 3 women who have undergone breast augmentation and subsequent explantation with no replacement of a breast prosthesis. The piece explores their psychological reasons for implanting and explanting as well as the emotional and physical issues that can occur with breast implants. It also addresses their opinions along with a plastic surgeon and an epidemiologist’s opinion of breast implants and their affect on women’s health. Lastly, the notion that breast implants are causing a new unidentified form of disease that has yet to be acknowledged and labeled by the entire medical and research community is presented. 1 Script TITLE CARD: IMPLANT/EXPLANT “The Explant” CARD: To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best night and day to make you like everybody else means to fight the hardest battle any human being can fight and never stop fighting. --e.e. cummings TINA VAUGHAN ON-CAMERA BREAST IMPLANTS HAVE BEEN AROUND FOR 45 YEARS. IN THAT TIME AN ESTIMATED TWO MILLION WOMEN HAVE RECEIVED THEM IN AMERICA ALONE. (ASPS) THERE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN PROBLEMS WITH IMPLANTS, BUT IT WASN’T UNTIL 1992 THAT THE FDA BANNED THE USE OF SILICONE GEL IMPLANTS FOR NON-RECONSTRUCTIVE PURPOSES (FDA, Fisher 1.) THE MORATORIUM WAS DRIVEN BY WIDESPREAD REPORTS OF OF WOMEN HAVING PROBLEMS WITH THEIR BREAST IMPLANTS ALONG WITH THE ABSENCE OF EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT THEIR SAFETY (Segal.) IN NOVEMBER OF 2006, THE FDA LIFTED THE BAN ON SILICONE GEL IMPLANTS AND APPROVED THE USE OF THEM STATING THAT THEY ARE “REASONABLY SAFE” (NRCWF.) DESPITE THIS ENDORSEMENT, A REPORTED HALF A MILLION WOMEN HAVE HAD THEIR BREAST IMPLANTS REMOVED (ASPS.) 2 AND SOME OF THESE WOMEN ARE REMOVING, OR “EXPLANTING” THEIR IMPLANTS FOR GOOD. CARD: EXPLANTATION defined: Explantation is a surgical procedure where breast implants and the surrounding scar tissue are removed. TINA VAUGHAN VO Kate INTRO 01:35:44:00 – 35:58 Kate leaning on gate looking up at old cedar trees, pan to left to see tree canopy 01:36:02:00- 36:24 Kate walking and then looking at little bulbs she planted (she’s a gardener) 01:36:32:00 -36:38 m/s of a bulb that’s growing tall 01:29:51:00 – 01:30:01 w/s of tall pine tree, ZOOM OUT, and pan down to KATE walking around KATE LIVES IN MARIPOSA, A SMALL TOWN NEAR YOSEMITE PARK. SHE’S HAD TWO SETS OF BREAST IMPLANTS FOR HALF HER LIFE. NOW SHE WANTS TO HAVE THEM REMOVED WITH NO REPLACEMENT. KATE SOT Tape 77 02:01:38:00 – 02:02:45:00 Tape 77 01:52:23:00 – 53:31 -- FLORAL BG Quick flashes of “line-up” type poses. 1- extreme c/u nipple & areola 2- m/s both breasts full frontal 3- profile shots both left & right 4- bending down (showing the rippling effect) 5- flexing her muscles (we see implants move up and down) 1 st set – Age 26 in 1982 Implant type: double lumen (silicone- gel and saline combination) Incision: Areolae Went from: AA cup to B cup Complication: Capsular Contracture and ruptured after 16 years It’s easier to implant because you’re going in the direction you want to go. It’s hard to explant emotionally because even though they’re not real, they are still yours, you’re used to them and you’re used to the way you fit clothes. . .and you’re used to having a certain self image, and that all changes. And it’s not only just changing, it’s changing perhaps back to what you started with, sometimes less, sometimes much worse— 3 2 nd set – Age 42 Implant type: Textured, Anatomical Saline Incision: Mammary Crease Explant -- Age 51 Post Explant: B cup to AA cup Incision: Mammary Crease, No lift, Capsulectomy TINA VAUGHAN VO RENEE LIVES IN LOS ANGELES AND LIVED WITH 2 SETS OF BREAST IMPLANTS FOR 27 YEARS. SHE WAS EXPLANTED WITH NO REPLACEMENT IN 2006. RENEE SOT Tape 88 00:10:09:00 – 10:16 Show a few seconds of m/s of her drawing, then FREEZE frame, change shot to black and white and cg: her name and bare facts of her breast implant history: 1 st set – Age 30 Year: 1979 Implant type: Smooth Silicone-gel Went from: 34 A cup to 34 B cup Incision: Areolae Complication: Capsular Contracture 2 nd set – 43 Year: 1992 Implant type: Textured Silicone-gel Went from: 34B cup to 34D cup Incision: Areolae Explant Age: 51 Post Explant: D cup to A cup Incision: Mammary Crease, and lollipop lift It’s too much, it’s too much to keep having to do it and re-do it and have the same problems come up over and over again. TINA VAUGHAN VO Show a few seconds of ext. c/u of painting on V-day card, zoom out to Kacey working at desk, KACEY IS ANOTHER EXPLANTEE. SHE GOT BREAST IMPLANTS AT THE AGE OF 19 AND HAD THEM REMOVED AT 21. 4 FREEZE frame, change shot to black and white. cg: her name & bare facts of her breast implant history 1 st set – Age 19 Year: 2001 Went from: 34 B cup to 34 C cup Incision: Areolae Explant Age: 21 Year: March 2003 Incision: Areolae Post Explant: 34 C cup to 34 D cup KACEY VO Tape 93 00:02:40 – 3:13 Lay this over shot of Kacey working in office It’s a good feeling to know that that’s you. Nothing added. Nothing subtracted. TINA VAUGHAN VO Ext. c/u of each woman’s eyes 1. Kate – looking off into the distance (sitting on couch) 2. Renee- w/the twinkle of laughter in her eyes 3. Kacey – looking downward, contemplative KATE, RENEE AND KACEY DECIDED TO EXPLANT FOR THEIR OWN REASONS. THIS STORY WILL REFLECT WHAT THEIR LIVES WERE LIKE BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER BREAST IMPLANTS. CARD: BREAST AUGMENTATION WAS THE NUMBER ONE COSMETIC PROCEDURE AMONG WOMEN IN 2006 WITH NEARLY 400,000 WOMEN IMPLANTED. -- AMERICAN SOCIETY OF PLASTIC SURGEONS TINA VAUGHAN VO 00:35:06:00 – 35:40 Inside of his foyer and end on Dr. Edward Melmed standing in his office and reviewing patient file folders 00:35:39:00 – 35:45 Extreme c/u of business card DR. EDWARD MELMED IS A PLASTIC SURGEON THAT USED TO PERFORM BREAST AUGMENTATION. HE STOPPED DOING IT IN 1992 AND SINCE THEN HAS PERFORMED OVER 900 BREAST EXPLANTATION SURGERIES. 5 00:35:58 – 36:03 c/u of business card then m/s of picture of him holding oozing implant 00:36:14 – 36:18 m/s NO GLARE -- PEOPLE magazine picture of him holding oozing implant HE NOW SPECIALIZES IN BREAST IMPLANT REMOVAL. DR. EDWARD MELMED, PLASTIC SURGEON SOT Tape 94 00:01:21:00 – 00:01:57 In 1992 a lady came to see me with problems, and when I treated her she said, “Will you treat other women with problems?” I sort of poo pooed the idea because we’d all been taught that there was nothing wrong with implants. But she referred women to me, and after I’d seen 10, 20, 40, 80 they all related basically the same story. Problems with the implants, problems with their health, so I got particularly interested in removal of implants. DR. EDWARD MELMED, PLASTIC SURGEON ACTUALITY Tape 94 00:29:31 walking to operating room 00:29:43 – 00:29:45 Empty operating table Tape 94 00:29:46:00 – 30:33 m/s Glass case w/instruments, Melmed showing me saline-filled implants Tape 94 30:10 – 30:15 Extreme c/u of the implant This is an example of what we take out. These are saline-filled implants and you’ll notice that they’ve lost their volume with time. These are pre-filled saline, pre-filled at the factory. These little edges are always palpable. Women who have these in, you can feel those little edges when they’re in the body. So when you’re thin you can feel it and this sloshing affect can often be felt. TINA VAUGHAN VO FDA pictures of the saline and silicone gel implants. Profile of breast with the implants inserted both above and below the muscle. IN THE U.S. THE TWO MAIN TYPES OF BREAST IMPLANTS ARE SALINE AND SILICONE GEL. BOTH HAVE SILICONE ENVELOPES BUT THE SALINE IMPLANTS ARE FILLED WITH A SALINE SOLUTION AND THE SILICONE-GEL IMPLANTS ARE FILLED WITH SILICONE GEL (ASPS.) 6 Painting of a woman with various breast implant incisions on her body. Drawing of headless woman with various incisions marked on her body. REGARDLESS OF WHAT KIND OF IMPLANT ONE CHOOSES, THEY ARE TYPICALLY INSERTED EITHER ABOVE OR BELOW THE PECTORAL MUSCLE AND THROUGH THE ARMPIT, AREOLA OR MAMMARY CREASE. (ASPS) DR. EDWARD MELMED, PLASTIC SURGEON SOT Tape 94 00:27:22: - 28:10 pictures of intact silicone implants With silicone gel implants, for the first 5 years at least, they do feel fantastic. The problems start developing with time when this capsule gets thicker and thicker. And many of them by 10 years are deformed. And I wrote in an article once, they’ve all got alteration in shape, size, contour and feel. TINA VAUGHAN VO Photo of Renee standing in white skirt. in black dress. RENEE SAYS SHE LIVED WITH HER FIRST SET OF SILICONE GEL IMPLANTS FOR OVER A DECADE. RENEE SOT Tape 88 8:34 – 9:02 Renee working on her cat drawing. I stayed with them thinking they’re just hard and I was in denial. It was when they changed shape that I couldn’t deny anymore that something was going wrong. And the shape was ugly. It was like Snoopy’s nose. It was way out there. TINA VAUGHAN VO m/s topless Kate full frontal ALTHOUGH KATE SAYS THAT HER SECOND SET OF IMPLANTS, WHICH WERE SALINE, DIDN’T CHANGE SHAPE TOO MUCH, SHE SAYS THAT THEY ARE VISIBLE THROUGH THE RIPPLING OF HER SKIN. KATE ACTUALITY Tape 77 02:03:40 - 02:04:41:00 m/s bending over to show ripples in breast implants which are evident through the skin Let me show you on the side. The rippling effect isn’t so bad when I’m standing up. But when I lean forward you’ll be able to see what it looks like. TINA VAUGHAN VO KATE SAYS SHE HAS EXPERIENCED OTHER PROBLEMS WITH HER BREAST IMPLANTS BESIDES JUST THE RIPPLING. 7 KATE SOT Tape 78 00:24:08 – 25:05 It’s very strange to have different symptoms all around the breast and the doctors continually telling you, “Well we don’t know what it is, but it’s not cancer, so it’s OK.” “‘Well, I think we should know what it is.” “Well, ya’ know it’s not cancer, it’s OK.” “WHY?” I now have a lot of lumps and bumps all along that pectoral muscle going straight out to my armpit. I still get the shooting sensation down my armpit. No one knows why. TINA VAUGHAN VO ANOTHER PROBLEM KATE HAS HAD WITH HER IMPLANTS IS WITH THE WAY THEY LOOK AND FEEL WHEN SHE MAKES SADDLES OR RIDES HER HORSES. KATE ACTUALITY Tape 77 01:40:50:00 01:43:02:00 – 43:12 (wearing a pink tank top & working on a saddle) 01:43:12:00-43:42 Kate continuing to scrape leather c/u of right breast moving, then zoom out and see both breasts moving When I work on saddles and use my arm muscles, my breasts jump in my chest. You can probably see that, just from using my arm. It’s quite annoying. KATE ACTUALITY Tape 77 01:43:47 – 01:44 Pile of leather scraps on floor 01:46:33:00 – 01:46:49 Kate fiddling with a saddle seat Tape 01:45:12 – 01:46:15 Kate continuing to work on saddles in workshop I don’t do push-ups. I don’t do pull-ups. I stopped weight lifting. I stopped working out at gyms because it just looked so odd to me and felt so weird. TINA VAUGHAN VO LIKE KATE, KACEY TOO WAS ONCE ATHLETIC. BUT KACEY STOPPED PLAYING SPORTS FOR DIFFERENT REASONS. 8 KACEY SOT Tape 90 00:15:43:00 – 16:48 Picture of Kacey sick in bed After augmentation surgery I started having weird symptoms. About 2 to 3 months after, I started having this stabbing pain on my shoulders. It felt like somebody was stabbing me with a knife like on a nerve and it was to the point like I couldn’t move my arm by itself…I started getting really tired and I would sleep for like 16 hours a day. TINA VAUGHAN VO TWO YEARS AFTER GETTING BREAST IMPLANTS KACEY WAS DIAGNOSED WITH RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS WHICH IS AN AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE. KACEY SOT Tape 90 00:09:12 – 00:09:36 Before breast implants I could do basically anything I wanted. I had no physical restraints. Like, my body was able to do whatever activity I wanted to push it to through. I never thought about pain in my hands or in my feet or in my joints at all. TINA VAUGHAN VO THE AMERICAN AUTOIMMUNE RELATED DISEASES ASSOCATION SAYS THAT THE CAUSE OF AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES LIKE KACEY’S ARE UNKNOWN AND THAT ANYONE CAN GET THEM, USUALLY MORE WOMEN THAN MEN. BUT KACEY SAYS HER RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS WAS TRIGGERED BY HER BREAST IMPLANTS SINCE THE AMERICAN AUTOIMMUNE RELATED DISEASES ASSOCIATION SAYS THAT AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES ARE THOUGHT TO OCCUR WHEN THE BODY ATTACKS A FOREIGN OBJECT AND THEN BEGINS TO FIGHT ITS OWN IMMUNE SYSTEM. 9 THE ASSOCIATION ADDS THAT THE DISEASES MIGHT BE HEREDITARY. ALTHOUGH KATE HAS NOT BEEN DIAGNOSED WITH ANY AUTOIMMUNE OR FIBROMYALGIA DISORDER, SHE SAYS THAT SHE HAS EXPERIENCED ODD AND ALARMING UNIDENTIFIED PAINS IN HER CHEST, ARMS AND SPINE. KATE SOT Tape 78 25:05- 25 It lasted 15 minutes. I could barely breathe, function. It happened one more time that day. It has happened intermittently and now a little everyday, but not as intense. It’s more of this burning feeling and it kind of dissipates. The doctor thought it might be acid reflux. TINA VAUGHAN VO CARD: THE FDA’S LIST OF DISEASES THAT SOME WOMEN ASSOCIATE WITH BREAST IMPLANTS: 1. LUPUS 2. RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS 3. SCLERODERMA 4. CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME 5. FIBROMYALGIA (FDA’S 2004 BREAST IMPLANT CONSUMER HANDBOOK) SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS FOR THE ABOVE DISORDERS INCLUDE: pain and swelling of joints tightness redness or swelling of the skin swollen glands or lymph nodes unusual or unexplained fatigue swelling of the hands and feet THE FDA REPORTS THAT SOME WOMEN HAVE EXPERIENCED SYMPTOMS SIMILAR TO KATE AND KACEY’S AFTER BREAST AUGMENTATION. THEY LIST THESE SYMPTOMS WHICH SHARE CHARACTERISTICS TO AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES AND OTHER CONNECTIVE TISSUE DISORDERS. STUDIES LINKING BREAST IMPLANTS OR EXPOSURE TO SILICONE TO NUMEROUS AUTOIMMUNE-TYPE SIDE EFFECTS HAVE ALSO BEEN DOCUMENTED BY JAPANESE JOURNALS SINCE THE EARLY 1960’S (Zimmerman 38.) 10 excessive hair loss memory problems headaches muscle weakness or burning. (FDA’S 2004 BREAST IMPLANT CONSUMER HANDBOOK) JUST FIFTEEN YEARS BEFORE THEN, AFTER WORLD WAR II, JAPANESE PROSTITUTES HAD RECEIVED SILICONE INJECTIONS IN THEIR BREASTS AS AN EFFORT TO ATTRACT AMERICAN GIS (Zimmerman 38 and Kuczynski 256.) TINA VAUGHAN VO SOME DOCTORS AND WOMEN SAY THAT BREAST IMPLANTS ARE ACTUALLY CAUSING A NEW UNIDENTIFIED DISEASE (FDA.) ACCORDING TO THE FDA, THEY’RE CALLING IT "HUMAN ADJUVANT DISEASE” OR “SILICONE-RELATED SYNDROME.” DR. EDWARD MELMED, PLASTIC SURGEON Tape 94 00:16:06 – 00:17:01 I don’t think it’s got anything to do with classic autoimmune disease. I think it’s a disease entity in its own. And the best analogy I can give you is the Gulf War syndrome. Remember in 1993 there was the Gulf War, and the soldiers came back. They were not believed. They had almost identical symptoms, a part from GI symptoms, and it took a long time before people even acknowledged they had a valid disease. Now the symptoms women suffer from are very similar which leads me to think that this must be some form of industrial toxin in its effect in specific women. CARD: “Diseases are inventions because they are—both literally and figuratively—socially constructed. They are recognized and legitimized through the acts of human beings.” --Nora Jacobson, Cleavage: Technology, Controversies and the Ironies of the Man-Made Breast (Jacobson 169) 11 TINA VAUGHAN VO B-roll of Dennis Deapen USC Epidemiologist Tape 96 00:23:38 – 23:45 Deapen working at his office with red cherry tapestry in background 00:25:00 - :00:25:07 c/u of HIS BOOKS 26:08- 26:10 c/u of MORE BOOKS 00:25:43 – 25:55 DENNIS DEAPEN HAS RESEARCHED THE AFFECTS OF BREAST IMPLANTS AND CANCER IN WOMEN SINCE THE 1970’S. DENNIS DEAPEN SOT USC EPIDEMIOLOGIST Tape 96 00:30:10 - 30:24 I can say that for cancer or autoimmune diseases, “Yes breast implants are safe.” DR. EDWARD MELMED, PLASTIC SURGEON SOT Tape 94 00:25:09 – 26:12 Almost all the women who come to me say, “I went to my doctor. I told him what I was suffering from and the doctors poo pooed it and said, “There’s nothing wrong with silicone, it’s 100 percent safe.” I’ve been shot at by the plastic surgery community for maintaining that these are valid symptoms and that these women do indeed have a problem. CARD: RESEARCHERS AT THE BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE FOUND THAT SILICONE USED IN BREAST IMPLANTS CAN LEAD TO ORGAN FAILURE AND DEATH IN MICE. (BBC, Zimmerman 39) RENEE SOT Tape 88 00:14:54 – 00:15:27 Maybe there’s an underlying current in the medical community that if women want to do this to their bodies let them go ahead and do it to themselves. “This is their fault, not ours.” Maybe there’s an attitude that we’re not really aware of. KACEY SOT Tape 92 24:19 – 24:40 If we were talking about penile implants something would have been done a long time ago, a long time ago— 12 I think because it’s breast implants and it’s women, I think we’re just overlooked. CARD: ACCORDING TO THE CONSUMER ADVOCACY GROUP PUBLIC CITIZEN, THE FDA HAS NOT APPROVED SILICONE GEL TESTICULAR IMPLANTS BECAUSE OF INADEQUATE TESTING. (CNN and Wolfe.) TINA VAUGHAN VO LIKE MANY WOMEN WITH BREAST IMPLANTS, KACEY SAYS AT FIRST SHE STRUGGLED TO PINPOINT THE CAUSE OF HER DISEASE. KACEY SOT Tape 92 00:24:56:00 – 25:50 Doctors would go out of their way to say that breast implants don’t cause disease. When I would go see them they would say, “No, there’s no way that breast implants can cause illness. It just doesn’t happen”… It would get to the point if I kept pressuring them, not even pressuring them, just asking them, “Are you sure it’s not my breast implants? My breast is hurting. This one burns. My ribs are burning!” They would get mad to the point of telling me not to come back. DR. EDWARD MELMED, PLASTIC SURGEON SOT Tape 94 00:02:34 – 00:04:15:00 Women have problems with their health. And in particular they complain of severe fatigue, short term memory loss, muscle and joint pains, skin rashes, poor sleep, depression, symptoms very similar to fibromyalgia. And they’re often diagnosed with that. TINA VAUGHAN VO SOME OF THE MAJOR COMPLAINTS WOMEN HAVE EXPRESSED WITH THEIR BREAST IMPLANTS ARE SYMPTOMS THAT POINT TO AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES AND OTHER CONNECTIVE TISSUE DISORDERS. 13 BUT DENNIS DEAPEN HAS LOOKED CLOSELY AT THE POSSIBILITY OF IMPLANTS CAUSING BREAST CANCER. DENNIS DEAPEN SOT USC Epidemiologist Tape 96 00:03:41---00:04:12 The focus of my research has been in cancer, first and foremost breast cancer. But the nature of my study has allowed me to look at any kind of cancer that women get. And our study here at USC is the first study of the health affects in the breast implants in women. And fortunately we’ve found consistently over the last 30 years that breast implant patients, ironically, get less breast cancer than the general population. TINA VAUGHAN VO Various X-ray images of the brain, skull and lungs BREAST CANCER RATES IN BREAST IMPLANT PATIENTS MAY BE LOWER THAN WOMEN WITHOUT IMPLANTS, BUT RESEARCHERS AT THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF CANCER FOUND THAT REGARDLESS OF THE TYPE OF IMPLANT, RATES FOR BRAIN AND LUNG CANCER AS WELL AS SUICIDE WERE GREATER FOR WOMEN WITH BREAST IMPLANTS WHEN COMPARED TO WOMEN WITHOUT (NCI & Stolberg.) DENNIS DEAPEN SOT EPIDEMIOLOGIST Tape 96 00:05:05 – 06:17:00 There’s millions of women with breast implants. And so they’re going to experience one would expect the normal health experience of people in general…But we’d expect them to have the expected, the usual number of cancer, the usual numbers of diseases, whether it be autoimmune diseases or multiple sclerosis. 14 TINA VAUGHAN VO ASIDE FROM THE POSSIBILITY OF CAUSING DISEASES, DR. MELMED SAYS THAT BREAST IMPLANTS HAVE A PROBLEM WITH REMAINING INTACT. DR. EDWARD MELMED, PLASTIC SURGEON SOT Tape 94 00:02:34 – 00:04:15:00 Photo of a ruptured silicone implant Fundamentally, breast implants have 3 problems. The first historically until this time as certainty, they all rupture with time. Almost inevitably. Not 100 percent, but a huge number. TINA VAUGHAN VO Picture of freshly explanted silicone gel implant that has ruptured. It is oozing out gel. ACCORDING TO THE FDA MOST IMPLANTS BREAK WITHIN 10-15 YEARS AND ONE IN FIVE BROKEN SILICONE GEL IMPLANTS LEAKS OUTSIDE THE BREAST AREA. DR. EDWARD MELMED, PLASTIC SURGEON ACTUALITY Tape 94 34:06: - 34:42 Dr. Melmed in his office and on camera throwing a silicone gel implant onto a clean mirror c/u of mirror showing gel residue This is a silicone implant I’ve just taken out of the drawer. And all I’m going to do is just drop it on the mirror. No more than that. And lift it. And you will be able to see the silicone that has bled through the surface of the silicone and is attached to the mirror. DR. EDWARD MELMED, PLASTIC SURGEON SOT Tape 94 00:04:27:00 – 05:09 When silicone implants rupture, and even if they’re intact, there’s always silicone that seeps through the walls of the shell of the implants. The newer ones are better than the older ones. But there’s always silicone found in the wall of the capsule and we know that within time that silicone penetrates through the capsule and goes into the bodies. Where it goes we don’t know. And we don’t know what it does to the body. So that’s a safety issue we worry about. 15 CARD: IN 1988 THE FDA DISCOVERED A STUDY PERFORMED BY DOW CORNING. THE STUDY SHOWED THAT RATS INJECTED WITH SILICONE GEL DEVELOPED A CANCER CALLED FIBROSARCOMA (Jacobson 18-9.) DR. EDWARD MELMED, PLASTIC SURGEON SOT 00:30:43: -- 00:30:54 Dr. Melmed shows me the blue mammogram where silicone has leaked and appears in the mammogram w/s of Dr. Melmed pointing on the little BLUE “zero mammogram” 31:00 – 00:31:03 c/u mammogram of the ruptured implant 31:10 – 31:16 w/s big Blue pictures 00:31:26 – 00:31:34 Zoom in of silicone lymph This is an example of what’s called a zero mammogram of a lady who’s got ruptured implants. There you can see the multiple like, soap bubble affect. The implant has ruptured and it has ruptured completely out of the cavity it was in. At that stage I replaced the implant, and the implant is present over here and as you can see it will have a smooth wall unlike the ruptured one. This is the breast tissue over here, but this is very interesting that in the top corner here is a lymph node full of silicone. So the rupture allowed silicone to migrate into the lymph nodes. TINA VAUGHAN VO 2 mammograms with implanted breasts 2 mammograms of breasts without implants REPORTS HAVE SHOWN THAT BREAST IMPLANTS CAN OBSCURE UP TO 80 PERCENT OF BREAST TISSUE DURING MAMMOGRAMS, MAKING IT DIFFICULT TO DETECT SMALL TUMORS. (Delfino 18 and Zimmerman 38) RENEE SOT Tape 88 00:01:12:00 – 00:01:49 Picture of woman getting a mammogram. I have this huge thing, and they take this lil’ pinch of skin here and try to pull if off of the implant so they could photograph it and it hurt! Mammograms hurt! And this lil’ pinch of skin is what they’re supposed to look at?! I always wonder, “Are they going to see everything they’re supposed to see?” 16 KACEY SOT Any woman with implants knows that that can’t be good. They’re barbaric! It’s no wonder that the implants rupture! KATE SOT Tape 78 00:23:40:00 – 24:10 Because of the implant and having less and less breast tissue, there’s more and more pressure on it. So it seems harder and harder for them to get a decent mammogram anymore, which scares me. One Aunt had breast cancer and I want to be sure that I can be screened. TINA VAUGHAN VO 3 Pictures of Mother breastfeeding a child DESPITE POSSIBLE BREAST IMPLANT RUPTURES AND LEAKS, A STUDY CONDUCTED BY E. D. LYKISSA AND S. V. M. MAHARAJ FOUND POTENTIALLY TOXIC LEVELS OF PLATINUM IN THE BLOOD AND URINE OF WOMEN WITH BREAST MPLANTS (FDA.) THIS EVIDENCE HAS BEEN DISMISSED BY THE FDA AND THE INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE. STILL, THE IDEA OF BREASTFEEDING AFTER HAVING IMPLANTS IS FRIGHTENING FOR SOME. (NRCWF, FDA, IOM) KACEY SOT Tape 92 21:24 – 00:21:52:00 I cannot tell you that I would breast feed because I don’t think that they’re clean. Honestly, I would not want my Mother to breast feed me if she had breast implants. CARD: ACCORDING TO THE INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE, WOMEN WHO UNDERGO BREAST SURGERY ARE THREE TIMES AS LIKELY TO HAVE AN INADEQUATE MILK SUPPLY FOR BREASTFEEDING. TINA VAUGHAN VO KATE DID NOT BREASTFEED BECAUSE SHE DIDN’T PRODUCE ENOUGH MILK. 17 1 Painting of Virgin Mary breastfeeding baby Jesus Pictures of women suffering from capsular contracture. THE INADEQUACY OF BREAST MILK IS JUST ONE OF THE MANY ADVERSE AFFECTS A WOMAN CAN EXPERIENCE WITH BREAST IMPLANTS. ACCORDING TO THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR AESTHETIC PLASTIC SURGERY, THE MOST COMMON PROBLEM ASSOCIATED WITH BREAST IMPLANTS IS CAPSULAR CONTRACTURE. IT OCCURS WHEN THE INTERNAL SCAR TISSUE SURROUNDING THE IMPLANT TIGHTENS AND CHOKES THE IMPLANT. (ASAPS and ASPS) DR. EDWARD MELMED, PLASTIC SURGEON SOT Tape 94 00:02:34 – 00:04:15:00 2 Pictures of freshly explanted capsules All foreign material, it doesn’t matter whether you have a suture or a metal plate or a big foreign body like an implant and this scar tissue is a thickening of tissue that forms around it almost like when a fly goes into a spider’s web. It gets cocooned by this big thick envelope of scar tissue. That scar tissue sticks to everything, to the ribs, to the muscles, to the breast, wherever it’s placed and causes both hardness and referred pain. TINA VAUGHAN VO Various pictures of women who have suffered capsular contracture THE SOCIETY ADDS THAT CAPSULAR CONTRACTURE CAN CAUSE THE BREAST TO HARDEN, HURT AND LOOK DISTORTED. THEY SAY ITS CAUSE IS UNKNOWN (ASAPS and ASPS.) BOTH RENEE AND KATE EXPERIENCED CAPSULAR CONTRACTURE AFTER THEIR FIRST SET OF BREAST IMPLANTS. RENEE SOT Tape 87 01:06:22:00 – 07:42 I went to the doctor expecting that I’d get gigantic breasts and he gave me these little 34B silicone breasts. 18 c/u picture of Renee in white triangle top bikini I was a little disappointed but it was better than what I had, and they got hard. And they got hard fast. KATE SOT Tape 77 01:45:12 – 01:46:15 Cut to: Photo of Kate in green shirt standing next to her horse. After the first year of having the implants they had encapsulated really badly. They were hard, like a baseball…They looked very unnatural, felt very unnatural…It was more of an embarrassment. Something to hide, something to explain. TINA VAUGHAN ON-CAMERA THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF PLASTIC SURGEONS SAYS CAPSULAR CONTRACTURE CAN HAPPEN TO ONE OR BOTH BREASTS SOON AFTER SURGERY OR EVEN YEARS LATER BUT THE SOCIETY SAYS THE PROBLEM CAN BE CORRECTED WITH REVISION SURGERIES. BUT REVISION SURGERIES CAN NEVER FULLY ERASE THE DAMAGE DONE TO WOMEN’S BODIES. AND ALTHOUGH WOMEN CHOOSE TO AUGMENT THEIR BREASTS, SURELY THEY DESERVE A “SAFE” IMPLANT. BREAST IMPLANTS MADE PRIOR TO 1976 DID NOT UNDERGO SCIENTIFIC TESTING BEFORE REACHING THE MARKET. THIS IS BECAUSE THE FDA DID NOT GAIN CONTROL OF THEM UNTIL 1976 WITH THE PASSAGE OF THE MEDICAL DEVICE AMENDMENTS (Jacobson 7.) BOTH KATE AND KACEY SAID THAT THEY FELT UNAWARE OF THE RISKS BEFORE THEY UNDERWENT BREAST AUGMENTATION. 19 KATE SOT Tape 01:14:37:00 – 16:12 I was told that there was a small chance that they might get capsular contracture which would be where they would get very very firm. But that was something they could fix. And other than that they were lifetime devices, safe. KACEY SOT Tape 90 38:28: - 00:38:43 My doctor had said that the only reason I’d have to have my breast implants replaced was if I wanted to go bigger or if I wanted silicone gel implants put in. KATE SOT Tape 78 00:13:46:00 – 14:35 There were too many unknowns and I think I was very naïve. My Mom asked me not to do it. She said, “That can’t be good.” But I wanted breasts so bad that I was willing to risk whatever. I was willing to quiet that little voice, “Ya’ got to think about this for a while!” KACEY SOT Tape 90 19:09 – 19:22 I really thought it was an investment in my future, because I thought how great would it be to have surgery now when I’m 19, and look great until I’m 80 years old? DR. EDWARD MELMED, PLASTIC SURGEON SOT Tape 94 00:12:14: - 13:09 Pictures of mold explanted implant capsules. 1. Colleen’s explanted implants 2. Kacey’s explanted implants 3. moldy implants We had been told by the manufacturers that there was absolutely nothing wrong with implants. When your body would be exhumed in 300 years they’d find bones and implants. Turned out to be a lie, the manufacturers did not disclose that these implants deteriorate with time. Let’s face it. It’s silicone rubber!...The longer they’re in the body the weaker they get. TINA VAUGHAN VO BECAUSE OF THE POPULARITY OF BREAST IMPLANTS AS WELL AS THE PROBLEMS THAT COME WITH THEM, BREAST AUGMENTATION HAS BECOME A BILLION DOLLAR A YEAR BUSINESS (ASAPS.) 20 KACEY SOT Tape 90 00:39:21 – 39:57 You never know when, what part of life you’re going to be at when you need that surgery. I mean, what if you are 70 years old and you’re telling your grandkids, “Sorry Christmas is not going to be very good because Grandma needs a new set of breasts,” and you have to make those kind of decisions? That’s not something that I’d want to sit there and tell anybody! But that’s the kind of thing you’re going to have to think about. Are you always going to have an extra $5,000 stashed away for a replacement job? What if they just bust? RENEE SOT Tape 87 01:19:32 – 01:19:52 Implanting and explanting my body probably cost about $20,000. KATE SOT Tape 79 00:22:45:00 – 00:23:17 It’s not cheap! Altogether it would have bought a really nice car!!! KACEY SOT Tape 90 00:09:22 - 9:33 If I had to guess on how much money that I’ve spent or me and my parents have spent out of pocket, it’d probably be close to $30,000. TINA VAUGHAN VO THE BREAST IMPLANT CONTROVERSY HAS NOT ONLY GENERATED BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN THE COSMETIC SURGERY INDUSTRY BUT IT HAS GENERATED MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN LAWSUITS (Fisher 1 and Jacobson 24.) DR. EDWARD MELMED, PLASTIC SURGEON SOT Tape 94 00:06:29 – 00:07:11 The trouble was that in the early 90’s all the lawsuits got filed, and the lawyers used the excuse of calling it atypical connective tissue disease. It is not an atypical connective tissue disease but everybody looked for that and found nothing and on the basis of finding nothing, in the pre-determined diseases, they maintained it was safe. 21 The women on the other hand continued to have health issues and they say, “We are sick.” Somewhere in between there is the truth, it hasn’t been nailed down yet. CARD: “SOMETHING IS HAPPENING HERE, BUT YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT IT IS.” --Bob Dylan, “Ballad of a Thin Man” TINA VAUGHAN VO IN APRIL OF 2005 KACEY TESTIFIED BEFORE AN FDA ADVISORY PANEL ON WHETHER OR NOT SILICONE GEL IMPLANTS SHOULD BE PUT BACK ON THE MARKET. KACEY SOT Tape 90 00:23:58: - 25:10 Testifying before the FDA regarding breast implants was the hardest thing that I’ve had to do. I was terrified. It’s hard to get up in front of a big group of people that don’t believe you, that not only don’t believe you but will tell some women they’re completely crazy and that they’re making up some of the symptoms they’ve had. TINA VAUGHAN ON-CAMERA ONE OF THE MAJOR IMPLANT MAKERS, DOW CORNING, EVENTUALLY WENT BANKRUPT AFTER BEING COURT ORDERED TO PAY MILLIONS IN DAMAGES TO WOMEN LIKE MARIA STERN AND MARIANN HOPKINS WHO BOTH CLAIMED TO GET AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES BECAUSE OF THEIR IMPLANTS (Jacobson 24 and Zimmerman 32, 34- 6.) AS A RESULT OF THOSE LAWSUITS, DROVES OF OTHER WOMEN CAME FORWARD AND INITIATED LAWSUITS AGAINST DOW FOR THEIR IMPLANT- RELATED PROBLEMS (Jacobson 24 and Zimmerman 32, 34-6.) 22 ALTHOUGH THERE WAS ONLY ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT THE WOMEN’S CLAIMS, INTERNAL COMPANY MEMORANDA REVEALED THAT DOW WAS FULLY AWARE THAT THEIR NEW SILICONE IMPLANTS LEAKED BEFORE THEY PUT THEM ON THE MARKET (Zimmerman 32, Fisher 1.) ONLY TIME WILL TELL IF THE OUTCOME OF THE FDA’S APPROVAL TO USE SILICONE GEL IMPLANTS WILL REPEAT HISTORY. DENNIS DEAPEN, USC EPIDEMIOLOGIST SOT Tape 96 00:37:43 – 38:33 I think the FDA approval is probably a very carefully considered and cautious approach. There’s extraordinary demand among the public for breast implants to be available widely, and the FDA has resisted the pressure to put them back on the market without careful data collection. TINA VAUGHAN V/O IMAGES OF THE NEW GUMMY IMPLANTS: 1. the Gummy implant paired with a standard silicone gel implant 2. a Gummy implant that has been sliced into 3. the chunk that has been sliced CURRENTLY, THE USE OF THE NEW COHESIVE SILICONE-GEL BREAST IMPLANT NICKNAMED THE “GUMMY,” WHICH HAS BEEN IN USE IN EUROPE FOR A DECADE, IS CURRENTLY BEING TESTED ON QUALIFIED PATIENTS IN THREE CLINICAL TRIALS THROUGHOUT THE U.S. (Kuczynski 256 & Dr. Teitlebaum) CARD: THE FDA REQUIRES IMPLANT MAKERS TO CONDUCT A 10 YEAR FOLLOW-UP STUDY ON 40,000 GUMMY IMPLANT RECIPIENTS (Zuckerman.) DR. EDWARD MELMED, PLASTIC SURGEON SOT Tape 94 00:13:10 – 13:42 In the ‘60s they were misled. 23 But I think in this new release of silicone disturbs me because what they are basically doing is letting these women be the clinical trial for the next 10 years to see if they are safe and if they do not rupture at the same rate. To that extent they are lab rats. KACEY SOT Tape 93 00:03:44 – 04:35 intheknow.org picture of woman with “guinea pig” stamped on her forehead You should not be able to put a product out and say, “You know what? Let’s see if it’s safe, we’ll test it later. Give it 10 years. See what happens to women.” You should have all these test results in before they’re allowed to sell it. And I think that the women right now, they do not know, that basically they’re little guinea pigs running around with breast implants, people wondering what’s going to happen. If enough of you die then MAYBE something will happen, and that’s extreme. But they’ll never say that you died because of breast implants. TINA VAUGHAN VO Images of silicone and saline implants THE FDA REQUIRES IMPLANT MAKERS TO TELL WOMEN THAT IMPLANTS ARE NOT “LIFETIME DEVICES” AND THAT THEY SHOULD EXPECT TO UNDERGO AT LEAST ONE MORE BREAST SURGERY IN THE FUTURE (Stolberg.) DR. EDWARD MELMED, PLASTIC SURGEON SOT Tape 94 00:08:30:00 – 9:30 Under current registration laws a woman is going to have an MRI every couple of years from now on at her own expense and have to have the implant changed every 10 years. So if you take a 20 year old girl or 25 year old girl, in her lifetime she’ll have at least 4 operations or more if everything goes well. Now the statistics are that 1 in 5 are re-operated within the first year. So you’ve got a significant risk factor with this surgery. 24 TINA VAUGHAN VO 3 Biomed pictures of breast necrosis, capsular contracture and infected breast BOTH THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR AESTHETIC PLASTIC SURGERY AND THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF PLASTIC SURGEONS SAY THAT THE FOLLOWING CAN, BUT DON’T ALWAYS OCCUR AFTER GETTING BREAST IMPLANTS: 1. INFECTION 2. HEMATOMA 3. BREAST TISSUE NECROSIS 4. BREAST DEFORMATION 5. WRINKLED, PUCKERED, SAGGY OR ASYMMETRICAL BREASTS SOME MORE COMMON ISSUES AFTER BREAST AUGMENTATION ARE: 6. MINOR TO EXTREME SCARS AT INCISION SIGHT 7. STRETCH MARKS 8. NUMBNESS OF THE NIPPLES AND BREAST 9. INACCURATE MAMMOGRAMS 10. FUTURE MAINTENANCE OR IMPLANT REMOVAL BREAST SURGERIES 11. CAPSULAR CONTRACTURE DR. EDWARD MELMED, PLASTIC SURGEON SOT Tape 94 00:09:42:00 – 10:35 I do not like foreign material. Foreign material in a body is to be used in extreme circumstances if you need to have a hip replaced or a knee replaced. We’re talking about 60-70 year old people who have got a limited length of life and the pain factor becomes a problem. But here you are taking a healthy young person and you’re condemning them to at least 5 operations in their lifetime. Think about it in terms of other surgeries. 25 Anybody who has their nose done or anything like that, it’s done once. It corrects the deformity, and it’s never repeated. Here we have an operation where as time goes on they have more complications and more surgeries. I don’t think the balance is good. CARD: ABOUT 80 % OF BREAST IMPLANTS IN THE US ARE INSERTED FOR COSMETIC REASONS. 20 % ARE FOR BREAST RECONSTRUCTION AFTER BREAST CANCER SURGERY (NCI.) TINA VAUGHAN VO ACCORDING TO KACEY, KATE AND RENEE, ANOTHER PROBLEM THAT IS OFTEN OVERLOOKED BY PROSPECTIVE BREAST AUGMENTATION PATIENTS IS THE TOLL THE WEIGHT OF THE IMPLANT TAKES ON A WOMAN’S NATURAL BREAST TISSUE. KATE ACTUALITY Tape 77 58:59 – 01:59:55:00 These are saltwater. They weigh nearly a pound a piece. They’re actually very heavy. KACEY SOT Tape 91 00:23:48 – 00:24:40 You bought large-breasted women problems, it’s what you did when you come home with your breast implants. And so you’ll have the back pain, the indentions. RENEE SOT Tape 87 01:10:17:00 – 10:58 CUT TO: m/s Picture of Renee dancing in white top c/u Picture of Renee in kitchen with cat The second set were 36 Ds…When I first saw them I felt like somebody had taken a football and cut it in half and put it on my chest. My Mother was complaining that they were too big for me but I didn’t want to hear it...But I noticed that they were more cumbersome… TINA VAUGHAN VO AFTER KATE, RENEE AND KACEY DECIDED TO EXPLANT THEY REACHED OUT FOR SUPPORT ONLINE. 26 KACEY SOT Tape 92 00:36:51 – 38:36 I found these websites that had, not only did they have saline breast implants, but they were all healthy before they got them and they all were sick once they had them. But then they all got better once they had taken them out. So that was amazing and I just cried. RENEE SOT Tape 88 00:20:12:00 – 20:43 02:02:40:22 – 02:45 Explantation.com WEBSITE 02:03:03 – 03:10 DOT COM, pan down to “Renee’s Story” I found explantation dot com by punching in the word obviously. When I saw it, it was like a breath of fresh air. KATE SOT Tape 78 00:26:47: - 29:18 So many women’s stories were similar to mine. I felt like I’d went for a visit in a room where everyone knew me already. And I wasn’t scared anymore. And a lot of the symptoms that I’d had that I had not associated with implants were things that were shared by these same women. RENEE SOT Tape 88 00:20:12:00 – 20:43 Cut to pictures: 1. Her before and after EXPLANT pictures -- day of 2. A week after: m/s Renee profile in bandages 3. m/s Renee full frontal in bandages 4. c/u full frontal 5. w/s side view 6. w/s full frontal Here was someone who was really putting the focus on reality…I didn’t feel so alone in my decision. And I felt like they had come out OK so I would come out OK too. DR. EDWARD MELMED SOT, PLASTIC SURGEON Tape 94 00:17:15 – 18:12 Various pictures of a lift being performed in the OR Implants stretch the breast with time. So when you take the implant out, if you do nothing it’ll just hang like an empty tube sock. 27 So knowledge of rather normal anatomy, probably the easiest way to determine that is from the sternal notch to the nipples should be an equilateral triangle, so you know where to re- position the nipple. TINA VAUGHAN VO/CARD 1. removal with no replacement or lift 2. removal with no replacement with a full or partial mastopexy (breast lift) 3. removal with a re- insertion of a breast prosthesis DOCTOR MELMED SAYS THAT WOMEN HAVE THE FOLLOWING EXPLANTATION OPTIONS AND THAT THE REMOVAL SHOULD INCLUDE THE CAPSULE. DR. EDWARD MELMED SOT, PLASTIC SURGEON Tape 94 00:17:15 – 18:12 It’s important to not only remove the implant but the capsule. It’s essential in gel implants. It’s not that important with saline-filled implants, but all of it must be removed. So having the knowledge of where you started from you can then re-build the tissue after the removal of the implant and capsule. TINA VAUGHAN VO LAST YEAR RENEE WAS EXPLANTED WITH A LIFT BUT NO REPLACEMENT. RENEE ACTUALITY Tape 88 26:40 – 27:22 m/s Renee squeezing her breasts and talking directly to the camera When I feel doubt I squeeze them. The reason I squeeze them is because I want to feel me. And it’s the greatest feeling in the world. It’s better than squeezing them and being stopped short because that balloon is there. RENEE VO Tape 88 00:23:01 – 23:10 1. looking at herself in the mirror 2. pointing out the incisions Just like a lollipop they cut around the nipple and then they cut straight down, it’s been a few months. 28 RENEE SOT Tape 88 00:24:27 - 25:50 cut to pictures: 1. m/s of full frontal (several months later) 2. side view of chest First thing I noticed is I had increased sensation. Much more sensation than I ever thought I’d have…Right here at the top of my breasts they were suddenly very alive. So naturally, I’m feeling myself up, and I was like, “Whoa I’ve got great breasts!” DR. EDWARD MELMED SOT PLASTIC SURGEON Tape 94 00:22:49 – 23:12 The only thing that is very disturbing about the breast augmentation that’s never discussed is roughly 20 to 30 percent of women get permanent numbness of the nipples when the implants are put in. The goodness is about a quarter of those get back sensation when the implants are taken out. RENEE ACTUALITY Tape 88 00:26:04:00 Renee showing me the scar patches she wears CUT TO: RENEE VO Renee pointing out the barely noticeable asymmetry in her breasts in the mirror I still wear scar patches. They’re not perfect. There’s a little asymmetry there and there’s a little sag… But that’s reality, that’s life. DR. EDWARD MELMED, PLASTIC SURGEON SOT Tape 94 18:12 – 18:50 The lift is one of two kinds. If the stretch is not extreme you can sometimes do what I call an internal lift in which the tissues are slid opposite each other almost like you tuck your shirt into your pants. And it’s lifted internally with re- positioning the nipple. If there’s a lot of sagging then we take skin out as well as the lift using that part of the lift as well. DR. EDWARD MELMED, PLASTIC SURGEON ACTUALITY he shows me some of his patients’ before and after pictures 00:31:34:00 – 00:31:46 Dr. Me flipping through photo album 00:31:53 – 32:42 This is a lady who’s very badly explanted. When people don’t know what to do, this deformed her. I was able to use tissues from all over to give her a tiny but normal looking breast. At least she could look womanly and not deformed. 29 THREE SETS OF BEFORE AND AFTER Picture. Ex. # 1 of – NOT SO GOOD RESULTS Ex. # 2 – GOOD Ex. #3 – GOOD Ex. #2 This is a lady with implants, they were too big for her. One of the commonest findings I find are women are made to big. This is her a week after the surgery and as you can see the tapes are still present at the bottom but no deformity. Ex. #3 “This is a lady with implants. This is her after they were removed. DR. EDWARD MELMED, PLASTIC SURGEON SOT Tape 94 00:22:09:00 – 22:28 Barring the few who are shocked at being so small, and there’s always a shock at being smaller, most of them are absolutely delighted. KACEY SOT Tape 91 19:26:00 – 19:44 Her headless and topless before and after explantation pictures I could not believe how relieved I was to have me back. Never appreciated them before!! I sure am thankful for them now. I’m thankful they didn’t turn green and fall off. TINA VAUGHAN VO Pictures of doctors in the OR performing breast augmentation Picture of the Barbie with a sunken in chest. Courtesy of flickr : breast implant pictures c/u b&w pictures of the women on the operating table being explanted with no replacement 2 “before and after explant results” picture sets of Dr. Melmed’s anonymous patients. MENTOR, ONE OF THE LEADING IMPLANT MAKERS LOCATED IN SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA, SAYS THAT THEY WILL REPLACE ALL LEAKING OR RUPTURED IMPLANTS (Stolberg and Harris.) THEY’RE ALSO WILLING TO DEFRAY $1,200 OF THE COST OF REPAIR OPERATIONS. (Stolberg and Harris and Feng and Melmed.) WHILE THE COST FOR BREAST IMPLANTS IS AROUND $2,000, IT COSTS ABOUT $6,000 TO $8,000 TO HAVE THEM REMOVED. (Stolberg and Harris.) DR. EDWARD MELMED, PLASTIC SURGEON SOT Tape 94 00:21:19:00 – 00:22:02 The technique that I use has no sutures that need to be removed. So the normal course of events is they have their surgery. There’s always a drain because there’s a big cavity and that cavity has to come out. 30 The drain is removed usually the next day and they’re placed in a sports bra and then they have to be extraordinarily careful for 4 days. But that’s all it involves. They have to wait 24 hours, next day they see the results. RENEE SOT Tape 88 Renee 00:24:27 - 25:50 Cut to Renee working on her cat drawing My cat loves them. He loves to put his hat right on my heart and walk on it as if there’s nothing there. He’s almost right but this is me ya’ know! I don’t make anymore excuses for myself and I don’t have to pretend to be somebody other than I am…There’s something else there than besides those boobs. KACEY SOT Tape 92 33:18 – 34:14 Like everybody else I was scared to have them taken out and that’s why I understand. I know why you keep them. I know why you think about getting them out. I was there. RENEE SOT Tape 88 18:36 – 19:05 I wanted to get comfortable in my own skin. I thought, ya’ know, I’ll take them out, see what they look like. I was very fearful of that, by the way. But if I could at least get to see who I was, I could make decisions from that day forward. DR. EDWARD MELMED, PLASTIC SURGEON SOT Tape 94 00:10:41 – 11:09 I’ve been able to alter many women’s lives for the better because the results of taking them out have been pretty dramatic. Yes they’re smaller, but almost inevitably they feel better. So you’re doing something that’s actually helping somebody. KATE SOT Tape 78 00:18:02:00 – 19:32 I will be back to the starting point, if not worse. And I’m sure it will look worse at first because the skin is stretched and everything has to re- arrange itself. And the breast tissue’s going to, as they call it, fluff up. It takes time. 31 DR. EDWARD MELMED, PLASTIC SURGEON SOT Tape 94 00:11:20 – 00:12:00 I did a review where I took only one group that I had good figures on and I studied about 500 women that had gel implants and about 160 who had saline implants. And the satisfaction rate of removal was 86 percent. In other words there were 14 percent who were unhappy to the degree that they were very disturbed at having them out. But 86 percent of women felt that their health had improved, their life had improved and the quality of it improved. KACEY SOT Tape 93 00:01:28:00 – 2:02 CUT TO PICS DURING VO: w/s of school where she works m/s flag, zoom out, and pan down to w/s children w/s ground shot working in office m/s/ filing cabinet m/s Kacey walking to school mailbox CUT BACK TO KACEY ON- CAMERA Three years after having my breast implants removed I’m able to work and I know some of that is due to the medication that I take now. KACEY VO Tape 91 00:00:43:00 -- 00:01:29:00 I’m lucky that I can go to work now because it was not an option for 3 years, actually for 5 years. KACEY SOT Tape 93 00:01:28:00 – 2:02 It’s amazing what has happened to me and there’s no other explanation than I got my breast implants removed. Everything turned around for me once I took them out. KACEY VO Tape 93 00:02:12:00 – 02:40 1. 2 pictures of clothed Kacey (red shirt looking over her shoulder) post-explant 2. with her boyfriend and dog Daisy My decision to take my breast implants out was most definitely my way to say you know what, “I’m in charge of my life, of myself, whatever everybody else thinks about me does not matter.” 32 TINA VAUGHAN VO Pictures of Kacey featured in COSMO Footage of her website “Implantsout.com” KACEY HAS SPOKEN OUT TO MEDIA OUTLETS ABOUT THE PROBLEMS SHE HAS HAD WITH HER BREAST IMPLANTS. SHE EVEN CREATED HER OWN WEBSITE TO INFORM WOMEN OF THE RISKS OF BREAST IMPLANTS. KACEY SOT Tape 90 00:21:50:00 – 23:31 picture of Kacey at a media event another picture of Kacey post explant I have no reason to tell people that breast implants aren’t good. I make no money off of it either way if you get them or you don’t. But on my conscience, I can’t live with myself if I don’t tell people. KACEY SOT Tape 91 00:03:14:00 – 00:04:01 I know deep down that I’ll probably never be 100 percent. That I probably can’t go play basketball and run and do a lot of things like that anymore, but I still am hopeful that I will get better. TINA VAUGHAN VO AND SHE’S NOT THE ONLY ONE. KATE TOO SAYS THAT SHE HOPES THAT THE REMOVAL OF HER BREAST IMPLANTS WILL BOTH ALLEVIATE HER HEALTH ISSUES AS WELL AS HELP HER FIT CLOTHES BETTER. KATE ACTUALITY Tape 80 03:28:00 Kate inside her closet showing me various tops that don’t fit properly because of her bust size. Kate modeling a low-cut black top she bought I thought it’d be fun to try on a few tops that are like “overly too much” now that might look cute later or show why things fit funny. KATE SOT Tape 78 00:30:36 – 31:13 KATE VO Tape 76 18:15 -18:47 Cut to sequence at VO: 01:29:51:00 – 01:30:01 You’re changing completely…The feelings that I had all those years when I was growing up about being small are still there…I know I will deal with it, and I’ll probably be thrilled. And I know they’ll be different because I’ve had a child, gained 10-15 pounds since I was young. 33 w/s of tall pine tree, ZOOM OUT, and pan down to KATE walking around 01:31:16:00 – 32:10 Kate walking and talking to her dog Spike. See Kate’s back, and then pan to see the front side, she laughs, dogs wrestle. 01:32:15:00 – 01:32:24:00 Kate walking and talking with beautiful red unusual looking trees in background 01:33:14:00 – 33:32 m/s Kate playing with Kitty and Cookie 01:33:36:00—01:33:49 Kate putting her fingertip on Cookie’s nose, Cookie walks out of frame But it’s still to me a stigma, to be really flat-chested. I see other women carry it off all the time. I don’t know if I’m one of those. I guess I’ll try, I guess I’ll try. KATE VO Tape 79 02:01:38:00 – 02:02:45:00 01:35:44:00 – 35:58 Kate leaning on gate looking up at old cedar trees, pan to left to see tree canopy. Cut to pictures of her explant 1. in camisole 2. unclothed - w/drains 3. unclothed -- both sides -- no drain I’m trusting in God, and in my surgeon and my natural body’s healing ability that this is the right step. And I’ll just deal with the consequences as they show up. CARD: THE CONSUMER ADVOCACY GROUP, PUBLIC CITIZEN SAYS THAT SILICONE GEL BREAST IMPLANTS ARE THE MOST DEFECTIVE MEDICAL DEVICE EVER APPROVED BY THE FDA (Wolfe.) 34 Bibliography American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association, Inc., “Autoimmune Diseases factsheet.” 2004 – 2005. <http://www.aarda.org/women.php>. 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Abstract (if available)
Abstract
The documentary reviews the lives of 3 women who have undergone breast augmentation and subsequent explantation with no replacement of a breast prosthesis. The piece explores their psychological reasons for implanting and explanting as well as the emotional and physical issues that can occur with breast implants. -- It also addresses their opinions along with a plastic surgeon and an epidemiologist's opinion of breast implants and their affect on women's health. -- Lastly, the notion that breast implants are causing a new unidentified form of disease that has yet to be acknowledged and labeled by the entire medical and research community is presented.
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Asset Metadata
Creator
Vaughan, Tina
(author)
Core Title
Implant/explant
School
Annenberg School for Communication
Degree
Master of Arts
Degree Program
Journalism (Broadcast Journalism)
Publication Date
04/18/2007
Defense Date
04/02/2007
Publisher
University of Southern California
(original),
University of Southern California. Libraries
(digital)
Tag
breast augmentation,breast implants,cosmetic surgery,explantation,mammaplasty,OAI-PMH Harvest,plastic surgery
Language
English
Advisor
Saltzman, Joseph (
committee chair
), Banner, Lois (
committee member
), Birman, Daniel H. (
committee member
)
Creator Email
tvaughan@usc.edu
Permanent Link (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-m398
Unique identifier
UC1441678
Identifier
etd-Vaughan-20070418 (filename),usctheses-m40 (legacy collection record id),usctheses-c127-322493 (legacy record id),usctheses-m398 (legacy record id)
Legacy Identifier
etd-Vaughan-20070418.pdf
Dmrecord
322493
Document Type
Thesis
Rights
Vaughan, Tina
Type
texts
Source
University of Southern California
(contributing entity),
University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses
(collection)
Repository Name
Libraries, University of Southern California
Repository Location
Los Angeles, California
Repository Email
cisadmin@lib.usc.edu
Tags
breast augmentation
breast implants
cosmetic surgery
explantation
mammaplasty
plastic surgery