What motivates women to get breast implants? It’s a question with several answers that have to do with anything from self-esteem to breast reconstructive surgery stemming out of cancer– related causes and other traumas.
It’s really no one’s place to judge why a woman wants a boob job. Having said that, the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) doesn’t recommend breast implants for women under 18. Yet sometimes such procedures are necessary for young women to correct a severe deformity or anything else abnormal.
Implants are a commodity. Serious problems arise when any commodity threatens the physical or mental well-being of consumers. Patients with breast implants may have an increased risk of developing cancer, which is the case we’re seeing now with Allergan Biocell breast implants.
What are Biocell implants?
Allergan is a pharmaceutical company that manufactures Biocell implants. These implants feel softer than saline implants, and some believe the texture is more like natural breast tissue. Biocell textured breast implants are tissue expanders. The expanders are devices used to stretch a patient’s skin before breast enlargement or reconstruction. Supposedly, Biocell helps the implants to stay better in place.
Cancer link
The implants have been linked to a rare type of lymphoma; a type of cancer of the blood that affects the immune system. It usually starts in the thymus, a small organ located behind the breastbone and in front of the heart, yet it is not a type of breast cancer. It can grow into a large tumor in the area between the lungs. This can cause shallow breathing and swelling in the arms and face. Like any cancer, if you don’t catch it early, treatments might not work.
The recall
The FDA was slower to respond than its peers in Europe and Canada concerning this device, but it changed its tune between May and July of this year. In May, the FDA had concluded that it did not believe “the device meets the banning standard set forth” in U.S. law. In July, the FDA called for a formal Allergan Biocell recall, pointing out the evidence that indicated a direct link to substantial patient harm, including death. It should be noted here that Allergan refused to recall until the FDA asked them to do so.
The recall was classified as a Class 1 recall, which is the most serious type and is a situation in which there is a fair risk that the use of, or exposure to, a volatile product will cause serious health consequences or death. The FDA went on to explain that the risk of BIA-ALCL through Allergan Biocell-textured implants is around 6 times the risk of BIA-ALCL than of other producers selling in the U.S. The recall covers all styles of Allergan’s Biocell-textured breast implants, including both silicone and saline-filled ones.
Recalls tallied up to 246,381 devices in the USA, and the initiating date of the recall was July 24, 2019.
What you should do
Clearly, the first thing you want to do is to contact your health professional if you are exhibiting symptoms. Symptoms include excessive fluid buildup around the breast implant, which can cause pain, swelling, or lumps in the breast or armpit. Symptoms don’t occur right away and can start showing up anytime between 3 and 14 years after inserting implants.
Product liability lawyers
Faulty and dangerous products are cause for major concern. Thousands of people are injured or suffer from illnesses due to cases such as this one. Being concerned with such a serious issue, you want to know your legal rights. Product liability is handled differently than basic injury law, so seeking professional liability lawyers is advised if you have suffered from liability injury. Any company is legally responsible to advise consumers on how a product works and to provide detailed health information if a product poses a health hazard.
If you are an unfortunate victim of Allergan breast implants or other types of defective products, don’t delay checking your health as well as your legal rights. Defective design, manufacturing defects, marketing defects, insufficient warnings, and more, are all examples of how a device can be fatal. This type of negligence can allow you to seek legal representation against a company. Just make sure you find a lawyer that will take action and get you the compensation you’re entitled to.
