A few weeks ago I read several articles about how the FDA has proposed new warnings for breast implants including a “black box” warning on the packaging, which is considered their most serious warning.
- Washington Post – FDA calls for new warnings for breast implants: After being criticized for years for not taking more aggressive action, the agency proposes manufacturers use a boxed warning to spell out risks by Laurie McGinley.
- New York Times – Women Should Be Warned of Breast Implant Hazards, F.D.A. Says: The agency proposed that surgeons discuss the risks with patients and that manufacturers print bold warnings on the device packaging by Roni Caryn Rabin.
- WebMD – FDA May Put Strong Warning on Breast Implants by Robert Preidt.
- MarketWatch – ‘I was not fully informed’ — FDA recommends breast implants with ‘black-box’ warning labels about potential hazards, and when do we turn back the clocks? by Meera Jagannathan.
- AP – FDA wants stronger warning on breast implants about risks by Matthew Perrone.
- CBS News – FDA proposes “black-box warning” for breast implants – its strongest form of caution
These articles brought several disconnected thoughts to my brain as I read them –
- First as foremost: Women, you don’t need to mutilate your bodies to conform to society’s idea of what is beautiful (which in reality has been created by beauty magazines & marketing firms.)
- A black box warning? Really? How many women getting breast implants are going to see the packaging for their new girls? We all know that those babies are going to be sitting on a metal tray in the operating room already unpackaged and the person doing the unpackaging ain’t going to be the patient. And let’s say the doctors are required to share the information with the patients. Do you think that doctors who are willing to do breast implants* despite these warnings are going to be very diligent about doing so?
- I’m super skeptical that anything further is going to happen with this. It’s clear that these warnings are simply a proposal. The FDA is in dire need of a boost of good PR. They have been pretty lame for years, but since the Trump Administration, they have become borderline criminal about doing their job. They don’t protect the citizens of the United States. Nope, they do whatever lobbyists and wealthy donors who give to powerful politicians want them to do. Which is why I think that this won’t happen. Somewhere down the line the companies that manufacture breast implants will spend enough money to get this quashed. And we won’t even know. Because who follows up on this? Who is going to check weeks or months from now to see if this was implemented. And even if there are watchdogs that do, and even if they call them out on it, who will do anything about it?
Full disclosure, I actually had a breast REDUCTION. Some people might say, well, aren’t you a hypocrite! But there is a big difference between breast implants and breast reduction. Yes, both are surgical procedures, but breast reductions are generally necessary – women get them for medical reasons such as backaches or other discomforts.
In my case, I had lost a tremendous amount of weight over a ten month period of time (140 pounds) and I had a lot of excess and sagging skin. Did my boobs hang low? You betcha? Did they wobble to and fro’? Definitely. In fact, I really could tie them in a knot and tie them in a bow AND I could even throw them o’er my shoulder like a continental soldier. It was a NECESSARY procedure. And there was some serious chaffing. Sadly though, my insurance company didn’t see it that way, they still saw it as cosmetic.
And to be fair, their were also psychological reasons for my having the procedures. But if that alone was the reason, if I didn’t have the physical issues combined with wanting to look better, hell, I would never have gone through my surgeries (I also had an adominectomy). Because really, who wants to be cut open from hip to hip and, well, you don’t even want to know what they do with a breast reduction, trust me. Suffice it to say, they were both EXTREMELY painful.
With all the new information coming out about the dangers of having breast implants, I will say this again – YOUR GIRLS ARE PERFECT the way they are. Unless they are causing you physical discomfort, there is no reason to have any sort of “cosmetic” surgery. Seriously. We all need to start recognizing that we aren’t the ones that have to do the changing, it’s the people who think the rest of the world isn’t beautiful enough.
*By the way, just as a little FYI, here’s a link to the FDA page on the Risks & Complications of Breast Implants. If I read the stuff on here I know I’d never consider getting them.