JOINT
PRESS RELEASE

American Society for Aesthetic
Plastic Surgery

American Society of Plastic Surgeons

GAITHERSBURG, MARYLAND (Feb. 29, 2000)
— The benefits reported by women with saline-filled
breast implants far outweigh the risks,
according to the presidents of both the
American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS)
and the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic
Surgery (ASAPS). Both organizations will
testify at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s
(FDA’s) hearings on the safety and
effectiveness of saline-filled breast implants,
March 1-3 in Gaithersburg, MD.

"Plastic surgeons have seen first-hand
how a woman’s quality of life can
be tremendously improved by this procedure,"
said C. Lin Puckett, MD, ASPS President.
"Every plastic surgeon can provide
numerous stories about women whose self-confidence
flourished after augmentation mammaplasty."

"The high satisfaction rate, and the
determination of so many women to undergo
a surgery with the knowledge that it is
not a perfect operation, suggests just how
deeply the benefits are felt," said
Fritz E. Barton, Jr., MD, ASAPS President.
"I can tell you unequivocally that
the vast majority of patients who have breast
augmentation would make the same choice
again."

Both organizations take the position that
women should be fully informed of the potential
risks and benefits and should have the right
to choose.

These hearings mark the end of a regulatory
process that began in the 1980’s,
when the FDA categorized saline-filled breast
implants as Class III devices, requiring
the highest level of premarket review. In
June 1999, a report by the National Academy
of Science’s Institute of Medicine
supported the general safety of implants,
stating that there is "no definitive
evidence linking breast implants to cancer,
immunological diseases, neurological problems
or other systemic diseases."