Editorial: Extending silicone ban was the right decision

Monday, Jan. 12, 2004 | 8:44 a.m.

If the Food and Drug Administration erred in its decision last week to continue its ban on silicone breast implants, it erred on the side of health. We approve of the FDA's caution because we remember how it was in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Women around the country, many here in Las Vegas, were relating horror stories about what happened to them when their implants ruptured and silicone invaded their bodies.

The FDA banned silicone implants in 1992 until such time as their long-term health affects could be determined. Afterward, a number of women around the country volunteered to have the implants so that studies could be conducted. Not enough time has elapsed yet to arrive at any certain conclusions. When the results from these women are finally in, perhaps then the FDA will approve the implants. But approving them now would be the equivalent of subjecting thousands of more women to the testing -- and risking thousands of more bad outcomes. With harmless saline implants available, silicone should remain off the market until its safety is a certainty.