| Description |
256 pages ; 22 cm |
| Contents |
1. The Breast Implant Story: Once Over Lightly -- 2. Breast Implants: What They Are and Who Has Them -- 3. The FDA Ban on Implants: Regulation in Modern America -- 4. The Rush to Court: Litigation and More Litigation -- 5. Scientific Evidence: What It Is and Where It Comes From -- 6. Science in the Courtroom: Opinions without Evidence -- 7. Greed and Corruption: All That Free Money -- 8. Americans and Health News: The Alarm of the Day -- 9. Breast Implants and the Rejection of Science: Other Ways of Knowing -- 10. Where We Stand ... and for How Long |
| Summary |
Why were the courts and the public so certain that breast implants were dangerous when medical researchers were not? The answer to this question reveals important differences in the way science, the law, and the public regard evidence - and not just in the breast-implant controversy. As our society becomes ever more dependent, at all levels, on science and technology, misconceptions about scientific evidence become an increasing danger to the public good - with consequences that extend far beyond the question of whether silicone gel-filled breast implants are safe |
|
When the FDA banned silicone gel-filled breast implants in 1992, it was responding to mounting concerns that they caused autoimmune and connective tissue disease. The ban triggered a torrent of litigation, as women by the thousands sued breast-implant manufacturers. Sympathetic juries awarded huge damages, leading to a $4.25 billion class-action settlement that still wasn't large enough to cover all the claims. Shockingly, rigorous scientific studies of breast implants then began to show that there is no significant link between breast implants and disease |
| Analysis |
Corruption |
|
Courts |
|
Evidence |
|
Government regulation |
|
Legislation |
|
Litigation |
|
Medical science |
|
Overseas item |
|
Product liability |
|
Prostheses |
|
United States |
|
Women |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages [211]-245) and index |
| Subject |
Breast implants -- Complications.
|
|
Breast implants -- Law and legislation -- United States.
|
|
Products liability -- Breast implants -- United States.
|
|
Breast Implants.
|
|
Complications
|
|
Consumer Product Safety.
|
|
Legislation, Medical.
|
|
Surgery, Plastic.
|
| LC no. |
95050081 |
| ISBN |
0393039730 |
|
