WASHINGTON, Nov. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Breast cancer survivors and scientists will testify before a Congressional panel today to express concerns that poor FDA oversight has led to serious health consequences for many women with breast implants in the U.S. and to ask that more independent research be conducted.

The hearings come only six months after three government studies linked breast implants to serious illnesses. In May 2001 the National Institutes of Health released two studies linking breast implants to increased rates of respiratory and brain cancer and the FDA reported increased rates of fibromyalgia, a painful immunological disorder, in women whose implants had ruptured.

Congressman Roy Blunt (R-MO) will be the first to testify on behalf of the breast implant panel. He became involved in this issue when a constituent sought his assistance in her battle to have her problems with breast implants reported to the FDA. Since that time, Representative Blunt has co-sponsored the Breast Implant Research and Information Act asking Congress to mandate additional research and better informed consent. The bill also asks that an FDA investigation into Mentor, one of two major breast implant manufacturers, be brought to a close and the findings disclosed to the public.

Dr. Diana Zuckerman, Executive Director of the National Center for Policy Research for Women and Families (http://www.cpr4womenandfamilies.com ) will call for more independent research and better informed consent. She initiated the original breast implant hearings in 1990 when the first reports of the serious health implications of implants surfaced.

Also testifying will be Pamela Noonan-Saraceni, a breast cancer survivor; Kim Hoffman, a woman who has fought for years to alert the FDA that women's problems are going underreported; and Mary McDonough, who played Erin on The Waltons and one of the few actresses who has been vocal about the health problems she experienced after receiving breast implants.

The hearing is being sponsored by the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee. The Command Trust Network is an information clearinghouse for women with breast implants.