Diana Zuckerman dz@center4research.org

Well, it took almost 5 years, but we finally had a meeting at the White House this week. During the Clinton years, we were invited to many events there on many different topics, but this was our first invitation since January 2001.

We had requested a meeting with Claude Allen, the President's Chief Domestic Policy Advisor, to discuss the FDA and specifically the FDA's upcoming decision of whether or not to approve silicone breast implants. We were instead invited to meet with Lance Leggitt, an underling at the White House Domestic Policy Council.

I was accompanied by Michelle Nawar, our Director of Policy and Communication, Cindy Pearson, Executive Director of the National Women's Health Network, and Erin Erhlenborn, representing Command Trust Network, a breast implant patient advocacy organization.

I gave a brief history, pointing out that the FDA scientists have repeatedly asked for better safety data, and that the implant makers have not provided it. I also showed some photos of implants gone wrong, which usually is very effective. Cindy Pearson talked about the need to make a scientific decision, not a political one. Erin Erhlenborn described the irony of having the FDA consider approval at the same time that the federal government sued implant makers to reimburse for medical costs (Medicare, Medicaid, VA, etc) and disability costs for women who became ill from implants. The federal government requested hundreds of millions of dollars, and settled for less. But the point is: the government can't afford to approve a product that has such a high complication and failure rate if they can't afford to pay for medical care and disability for uninsured women who are harmed.

Our main message was that the decision about silicone implants should be made on the basis of science, and the lack of long-term research is the reason why silicone gel breast implants have never been approved and should not be approved.

Diana

www.center4research.org