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ABSTRACT

Ethylene oxide burns from improperly sterilized mammary implants.

AUTHORS: Cardenas-Camarena L

AUTHOR AFFILIATION: Reconstructive Surgery Institute of Jalisco and the Municipal Health Administration of the City of Guadalajara,Mexico.

SOURCE: Ann Plast Surg; VOL 41, ISS 4, 1998,

Sixteen patients are presented who suffered from substantial tissue burn subsequent to the insertion of textured silicone gel breast implants for cosmetic purposes. The injuries may have been caused by ethylene oxide (ETO) residues in the implants used for the surgical procedure. The manufacturer apparently used ETO to sterilize the implants. If the implants were not adequately ventilated, that likely would allow toxic residues to persist and affect organic tissue. The clinical condition appeared during the first 4 weeks following surgery, and consisted mainly of the exudation of noninfectious liquid, rash, edema, pain, and in some patients severe cutaneous necrosis. In none of the patients did the clinical condition yield to conservative treatment, so it was thought necessary to remove the implant to clear up the problem definitively. A new implant was inserted in the majority of the patients several months later. It is important to recognize the potential implications of improper ETO sterilization, and to act quickly if the condition is suspected because a conservative, time-consuming treatment will cause greater tissue damage than if the implant was removed immediately.

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Ready or Not...Judge Pointer issues Order 27 Packets sent directly to clients, Q&A book raises serious issues ~ 1/23/96

Sent by Pam. . .Thanks Pam.

At a time when the Office of Liaison Counsel and BILG are devoting great resources to assisting women to locate competent counsel, and to dissuading attorneys from "wholesale client dumping," the claims office has delivered a serious blow to the integrity of the attorney client relationship, in breast implant litigation.

According to the Claims Office's toll free information line, the women and the lawyers were to receive mailings, containing the notice packet, opt out forms, and a "Q&A" booklet. It was the intent of the Claims Office that the previously encountered problem of clients receiving their materials before their lawyers, would not happen again, and that the lawyers would get their copies in such time as to know what their clients were talking about when they called with questions about the content. Well...it has happened again. The BILG phones, as well as those of many PSC and BILG Executive Committee members have been ringing "off the hook" with irate lawyers, who have gotten calls from their clients to ask about the materials that the lawyers had not yet seen.

The BILG office received an advance copy of the materials, but it was made clear to the anonymous writer that it would not be necessary or wise to write a special BILG Newsletter to discuss the packet, as the lawyers would all get the materials themselves, along with the "explanations of the program" from Judge Pointer. Out of respect for Judge Pointer, no newsletter went out. What a mistake! Enough said, I think.

EXCEPT...(you know me better than that) there has also been a tremendous amount of concern about the content of Paragraph 29 of the Notice Package, combined with Question 171 in the Q&A Package. It would appear that the claims office is so anxious to be helpful to the women, that is is possibly encouraging them to fire their attorneys, in order to save money.

The BILG Executive Committee has held a conference w/the Fund VI Committee to express our outrage, and to ask that Committee to discuss this concern with Judge Pointer, as soon as possible. It is a hard sell to convince an attorney to help us out by taking a few more cases, to alleviate the client dumping problem, when the court and claims office are telling women how to terminate their lawyers.

If you have not received your packet from the claims office by the time you receive this Newsletter, and you represent current claimants, you need to call the Claims Office in Houston to find out why. BILG does not have any extra copies of the packets, so cannot help you with this. The claims office can be reached at 713-951-9106. In spite of a request made by your anonymous writer, they have refused to supply BILG with any extras to distribute, so I guess we can not help you other than to give you the phone number to call. The Settlement will be the major focus of the BILG Program at the New Orleans Mid_Winter on February 6th 12:30-5:30 PM.

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This article has been sent by Pam. . .Thanks Pam.

I love THIS confidentiality agreement. Seems that confidentiality agreements only work when THEY want them to. 3M and Ralph Knowles, lead counsel for the plaintiffs in the proposed "Test Trial" which was to begin in front of Judge Pointer in Birmingham last week, arrived at a confidential settlement in the confidential sum of $99,000.00. 3M made no bones about allowing the plaintiffs to publicize the amount of the settlement, thinking it would drive a message home to plaintiff lawyers that not all cases are worth millions of dollars. Sources in the know (and not Ralph) have told BILG that it is a good thing that the cases settled, as there were several problems with the case, that made it less than an ideal one to use as a test case. Ralph has told BILG that the settlement represents a fair value for the case, all things considered.

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THE FDA DOCUMENTS SITE (REGARDING BREAST SILICONE AND BREAST IMPLANTS)

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Herbal Remedies

Milk Thistle: Protection for the Liver

Fast facts: protects against liver damage from alcohol, hepatitis and chemical toxins; regenerates already damaged liver tissue The milk thistle, a tall, spiny plant native to the Mediterranean, got its name from its milky sap -- and from a legend that the plant's white-veined leaves resulted from a sprinkling of mother's milk from the Virgin Mary.

(The legend accounts for its other name, Mary thistle, and its botanical> name, Silybum marianum.)

This tale gave rise to a folk belief that the plant was good for nursing mothers. There is no proof that milk thistle helps breast-feeding. But it has shown dramatic results in healing liver problems. Milk thistle has been used to treat the liver for some 2,000 years. In the first century a.c.e., the Roman naturalist Pliny wrote that the seedlike fruits of the milk thistle were "excellent for carrying off bile." Later herbalists also esteemed the herb as a liver healer. In the past two decades, research, conducted mainly in Europe, has proven them right. The active substance in milk thistle seeds is called silymarin a complex of various compounds that, according to medical researchers, not only protects the liver from damage due to toxins or disease but can actually regenerate liver tissue that's already in trouble. "Silymarin is a powerful antioxidant," says Alan R. Gaby, M.D., a Baltimore physician who practices nutritional and natural medicine and is president of the American Holistic Medical Association. (Antioxidants counter the effects of naturally occurring toxins called free radicals.)

"In animal studies, it has prevented liver damage, and in human studies, it has sped recovery from hepatitis," says Dr. Gaby. Studies in Hungary, Germany and elsewhere demonstrate that silymarin holds promise for treating various liver disorders, including damage from exposure to chemical toxins and cirrhosis caused by alcohol abuse.

Don't Go It Alone

Who should reap the benefits of milk thistle, and how? First, don't fool around with liver problems. If you have hepatitis, cirrhosis or any other liver-related condition, see your doctor.

There have never been any reports of problems associated with milk thistle consumption, and some European physicians prescribe a standardized extract for liver disease. In the United States, this product, sometimes marketed under the name Thisilyn, is available as a food supplement.

A few American doctors also use milk thistle. Dr. Gaby, for example, recommends silymarin extract to some patients with chronic liver disease. He says he gets good results. "One man had elevated liver enzymes for six years-a sign of liver damage, in this case of unknown origin. Various liver specialists offered no help," he says. "But one month after he began taking silymarin regularly, the enzymes came down to normal levels and stayed there."

Traditionally, almost every part of the milk thistle has been used for food even the leaves, with the spines removed. But the therapeutic substances in milk thistle are not water-soluble, so a tea would be ineffective, points out Varro E. Tyler, Ph.D., professor of pharmacognosy at Purdue University School of Pharmacy in West Lafayette, Indiana, and author of The Honest Herbal. And since silymarin is poorly absorbed by the human digestive system, he adds, capsules of concentrate are the only source of the compound that's effective.

If you want to take milk thistle products, it might be a good idea to discuss it with your doctor

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OTHER SILICONE RELATED RESOURCES ARE AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SILICONE WEBRING

http://www.homestead.com/siliconecity /webring

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FOR AOL MEMBERS OR OTHERS, WORKING WITH ON-LINE SERVICES NOT EASILY ACCOMMODATING THE FORMAT OF THESE NEWSLETTERS, YOU MAY ACCESS THEM FROM THE CANADIAN CONNECTION WEBSITE AT THE HYPERLINK BELOW. TONY & MICHELINE LAMBERT HAVE GRACIOUSLY ARCHIVED THEM FOR US.

http://implants.clic.net/tony/Myrl/index.html

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HUMOR

One, Two, Three!

After a few years of married life, a man finds that he is unableto perform. He goes to his doctor, and his doctor tries a few things but nothing works.

Finally the doctor says to him "This is all in your mind."and refers him to a psychiatrist.

After a few visits to the shrink, he confesses, "I am at a loss as to how you could possibly be cured." Finally the psychiatrist refers him to a witch doctor. The witch doctor says, "I can cure this."

He throws some powder on a flame, and there is a flash with billowing blue smoke. The witch doctor says "This is powerful healing, but you can only use it once a year! All you have to do is say '123' and it shall rise for as long as you wish!"

The guy then asks the witch doctor "What happens when it's over?

"The witch doctor says "All you or your partner has to say is '1234' and it will go down. But be warned; it will not work again for a year!"

The guy goes home and that night he is ready to surprise his wife with the good news. So, he is lying in bed with her and says "123", and suddenly he gets an erection.

His wife turns over and says "What did you say '123' for?"