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http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/11/29/eveningnews/main658177.shtml
Silicone Injection Victims Snubbed
SANTA MONICA, Calif., Nov. 29, 2004
Silicone Settlement Scam
Beverly Hills realtor Elaine Young used silicone injections to get
"Hollywood-high" cheek bones. (Photo: CBS)
Anthony's claim was accepted in 1999. But suddenly, two months ago,
she received a letter telling her that since her silicone was
injected, she would not be compensated.
Sonja Anthony had silicone injected into her legs back in the 60s. She
now faces amputation. (Photo: CBS)
IMPLANT CHRONOLOGY
1976: Congress gives the Food and Drug Administration the authority to
regulate medical devices such as breast implants. Because implants
already were on the market, sales were allowed to continue without
proof they were safe or effective.
1980s: Reports begin appearing of illnesses possibly linked to
ruptured implants.
1992: The FDA bans silicone gel-filled breast implants, except for
patients with breast cancer and certain other conditions who could get
them through specially monitored research studies. Implants filled
with saline, or salt water, were not restricted, the only option left
for cosmetic enlargement.
1999: The Institute of Medicine said there was not evidence linking
breast implants to serious illnesses, but that breaking, pain and
other local complications occurred frequently. Also, a judge approved
a $3.2 billion settlement with Dow Corning Corp. to compensate women
who had sued, claiming ill effects from silicone gel implants.
2000: The FDA re-evaluated saline-filled implants and declared that
two companies' versions were safe enough to continue selling if women
are warned about high breakage and replacement rates.
2003: Inamed Corp. asks the FDA to approve its silicone-gel implants.
(From Ilena: Not noted, but Inamed did NOT receive approval,
interesting deletion from the facts.)
(CBS) Sonja Anthony can hardly walk these days but back in the 1960s
she was the picture of vitality - a striking Los Angeles model. To
stay in high demand, she had her slightly imperfect legs altered with
silicone shots.
"I wanted perfect legs to be perfectly honest," she says. "They called
it sculpturing.
"It was just a thick liquid that was injected under the skin."
As CBS News Correspondent Thalia Assuras reports, her problems,
including tumor-like growths in her legs, started in 1979. Over the
next 20 years Anthony had eight operations. She now lives on
disability and faces a possible leg amputation.
Anthony blames her health problems, from strokes to seizures, on the
silicone, and one of its manufacturers, Dow Corning. She filled out
forms to join a court case against the company, while it was in
bankruptcy.
In her description she said her thighs had been injected.
Anthony's claim was accepted in 1999. But suddenly, two months ago,
she received a letter telling her that since her silicone was
injected, she would not be compensated.
Anthony is not alone. Thousands of claimants have received letters
telling them they will not be getting any money.
Elaine Young is a Beverly Hills realtor to the stars.
More than 30 years ago, she wanted those Hollywood-high cheekbones, so
she got silicone injections.
She says the silicone disfigured her face and forced her to have
dozens of operations.
She says she's paralyzed on the left side of her face and her eye
twitches.
Now, she, too, has been told she's out.
"I didn't believe it," she says. "I thought it was a joke."
Sybil Goldrich helped negotiate the settlement with Dow Corning. She
says no one should have been surprised by the letters and that they
were in fact courtesy reminders.
"From the very beginning, silicone injections were not covered because
it is not possible to identify who was the manufacturer of the
silicone that was injected," says Goldrich.
Sonia Anthony maintains she was not told and for years received
letters updating her on the case.
Asked why no one told her, she says, "because they're crooks."
Dow Corning says it would have been too costly to sort through every
claim so everyone was given a claim number and kept informed of every
detail. Six years later though, Anthony is back to square one. She is
suing Dow Corning, this time on her own and wondering how she and
thousands of others who received injections could have been so wrong.
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