Saline Implants Take the Place of Silicone Gel : * Health: Some surgeons who had said saline implants were inferior are now using them, according to a consulting group.
Although the Food and Drug Administration’s restrictions on silicone gel breast implants will discourage many women interested in reconstructive surgery, plastic surgeons said Friday that options such as saline implants will make up for any loss in their business.
Many surgeons, some who had previously said saline-filled implants were inferior to silicone, are replacing their silicone implants with them, according to Patients Unlimited Marketing Consultants Inc., a consultant to plastic surgeons nationwide.
Others have either redirected their plastic surgery practices or left plastic surgery altogether, said Lou Haggerty, general manager for Patients Unlimited.
While acknowledging that the publicity over problems with silicone implants has frightened many women away from implants, plastic surgeons said they expect business to return to normal within a year.
“The desire for reconstruction and augmentation hasn’t changed through this process,” said Dr. Norman Cole, president of the American Society for Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.
Women will pursue other options, such as saline implants, or travel to countries where the surgery is available, Cole said. “What has changed is the demand because people are scared and are made to be scared.”
Saline implants are now the most popular option for women, doctors said. Already, doctors face a three- to six-week waiting list for saline implants from those companies that still manufacture them, Cole said.
But the Public Citizen Health Research Group, which has lobbied to have silicone gel breast implants removed from the market entirely, warns that saline hasn’t been proven to be completely safe.
“Clearly, saline is less dangerous, but still, dangers exist,” said Dr. Sidney M. Wolfe, director of the group.
After almost a year of heated debate over the controversial devices, the FDA announced that the use of silicone gel breast implants would be severely restricted for cosmetic purposes, but would be allowed for women seeking reconstructive surgery.
Until the announcement, made Thursday, the FDA had declared a moratorium on silicone implants so it could evaluate new information on the devices. Plastic surgeons said the affect of the ban was unclear because they believe that the recession also reduced demand for the procedure. Surgeons who perform implant procedures make up less than 10% of the medical specialty.
Silicone has been linked to the development of cancer and autoimmune diseases, including certain connective tissue disorders, although direct scientific evidence has not been established.
Plastic surgeons said the controversy over silicone implants has not resulted in a significant number of women with implants requesting their removal.
Three percent of women who have had the procedure inquire about implant removal, said Dr. Garry Brody, secretary of the plastic surgeon’s society. Half of them go through with it, he said.
Two companies still manufacture silicone gel implants, Mentor H/S, the plastic subsidiary of Mentor Corp, and McGhan Medical Corp. Dow Corning Corp., once the leading manufacturer of silicone implants, pulled out last month.
Cole said he expects insurance companies are likely to resume paying for silicone gel breast implants after cancer surgery or for other medical reasons.
An insurance industry spokesman said that prediction probably is correct in light of the government’s new policy on implants--unless new health risks are revealed. An estimated 150,000 women have breast implant surgery yearly, 80% for augmentation and 20% for reconstruction.
