According to Reuters, an analysis appearing in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine suggests silicone breast implants are safe, despite widespread perception that the controversial devices cause health problems.
Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill reached that conclusion after a combined analysis of 20 earlier studies.
"From a public health perspective, breast implants appear to have a minimal effect on the number of women in whom connective-tissue diseases develop," said the team, led by Dr. Esther Janowsky.
"The elimination of implants would not be likely to reduce the incidence of connective-tissue diseases'' such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, or other illnesses caused by the misfiring of the immune system, the team concluded.
In January 1992, a U.S. Food and Drug Administration moratorium on silicone breast implants effectively eliminated their use. The moratorium was sparked by women who asserted that the implants were causing serious illness, claims that were receiving a lot of publicity.
Since then, studies have shown that the attack rate of those illnesses is no higher among women who have received the silicone implants than it is among women in the general population.
The silicone breast implant controversy has now become a symbol of "junk science," where scary claims based on individual anecdotes turn out to be unfounded when systematic studies are done.
Because the results of individual studies can vary, the Janowsky team combined the results from several studies to get a better picture of any potential health threat.
The three doctors who served as independent experts for U.S. District Judge Sam Pointer, the judge who heard all the federal cases involving silicone-gel-filled breast implants, also wrote a separate article in the same issue.
In it they argued that judges should avail themselves more often of similar impartial, scientific panels to help unravel the frequently conflicting testimony of expert witnesses called by both sides in legal cases.
