Taiwan Women’s Link and Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lin Shu-fen (林淑芬) yesterday urged the Ministry of Health and Welfare to inform people about the health risk of breast implants.
The US Food and Drug Administration in 2011 identified a possible link between breast implants and the development of anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL), Women’s Link founder and standing director Huang Sue-ying (黃淑英) said.
The breast implant-associated ALCL (BIA-ALCL) is not breast cancer, but a cancer of the immune system, she said, adding that it is mostly found in scar tissue and fluid near implants.
Photo: CNA
As of September last year, the US agency had received 457 unique medical device reports that meet the pathologic criteria of BIA-ALCL, including nine resulting in death, and most data suggest that BIA-ALCL occurs more frequently after placement of breast implants with textured surfaces than those with smooth surfaces, Huang said.
The UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency until September last year received 57 reports of ALCL in patients with breast implants, of which 45 cases meet the WHO diagnostic criteria for BIA-ALCL, and the country launched a Breast and Cosmetic Implant Registry to collect data and detect early warning signs about people with implants, Lin said.
Data from Australia and Canada showed that 393 people in Taiwan were diagnosed with ALCL in 2016, but there are no data that can help establish a link with breast implants, Huang said, adding that the government does not monitor the safety of breast implants and there is no registry.
The Taiwanese Food and Drug Administration only issued a document informing the Taiwan Society of Plastic Surgery, the Chinese Society of Cosmetic Surgery and Anti-aging Medicine, and others of the risks in 2011 and 2017, Lin said.
Doctors were asked to evaluate and observe the situation, and inform authorities about the association between ALCL and breast implants, but the agency has not conducted a survey to assess the actual situation, she said.
The government should launch a national breast implant registry to collect data on the link between cosmetic surgery and ALCL, as well as other health risks, Lin and Huang said.
People should also be informed about the health risks in the consent form given to patients before breast implant surgery.
Department of Medical Affairs official Liu Yueh-ping (劉越萍) said that clinics and hospitals are required to register the product codes for breast implants, but the data are kept at medical facilities.
The health ministry would consider adding information about ALCL to consent forms and ask specialists to assess the link between ALCL cases and breast implants in Taiwan, she said.
There are 77 incidents of Taiwanese travelers going missing in China between January last year and last month, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) said. More than 40 remain unreachable, SEF Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) said on Friday. Most of the reachable people in the more than 30 other incidents were allegedly involved in fraud, while some had disappeared for personal reasons, Luo said. One of these people is Kuo Yu-hsuan (郭宇軒), a 22-year-old Taiwanese man from Kaohsiung who went missing while visiting China in August. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office last month said in a news statement that he was under investigation
‘JOINT SWORD’: Whatever President Lai says in his Double Ten speech, China would use it as a pretext to launch ‘punishment’ drills for his ‘separatist’ views, an official said China is likely to launch military drills this week near Taiwan, using President William Lai’s (賴清德) upcoming national day speech as a pretext to pressure the nation to accept its sovereignty claims, Taiwanese officials said. China in May launched “punishment” drills around Taiwan shortly after Lai’s inauguration, in what Beijing said was a response to “separatist acts,” sending heavily armed warplanes and staging mock attacks as state media denounced newly inaugurated Lai. The May drills were dubbed “Joint Sword — 2024A” and drew concerns from capitals, including Washington. Lai is to deliver a key speech on Thursday in front of the Presidential Office
An aviation jacket patch showing a Formosan black bear punching Winnie the Pooh has become popular overseas, including at an aviation festival held by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force at the Ashiya Airbase yesterday. The patch was designed last year by Taiwanese designer Hsu Fu-yu (徐福佑), who said that it was inspired by Taiwan’s countermeasures against frequent Chinese military aircraft incursions. The badge shows a Formosan black bear holding a Republic of China flag as it punches Winnie the Pooh — a reference to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) — who is dressed in red and is holding a honey pot with
Celebrations marking Double Ten National Day are to begin in Taipei today before culminating in a fireworks display in Yunlin County on the night of Thursday next week. To start the celebrations, a concert is to be held at the Taipei Dome at 4pm today, featuring a lineup of award-winning singers, including Jody Chiang (江蕙), Samingad (紀曉君) and Huang Fei (黃妃), Taipei tourism bureau official Chueh Yu-ling (闕玉玲) told a news conference yesterday. School choirs, including the Pqwasan na Taoshan Choir and Hngzyang na Matui & Nahuy Children’s Choir, and the Ministry of National Defense Symphony Orchestra, flag presentation unit and choirs,
RSS