In the largest study of long-term safety outcomes for patients with breast implants, researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have found that silicone implants are associated with some rare diseases, autoimmune disorders, and other conditions; although a causative relationship has not been established. Results of the MD Anderson study are consistent with previously published studies that examined the safety of breast implants.
The study, published in the Annals of Surgery, is authored by researchers in MD Anderson’s Department of Plastic Surgery and reflects the outcomes of almost 100,000 patients with both saline and silicone implants. The information was derived from the United States Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) database dating back to 2005, when the United States moratorium on silicone breast implants was lifted.
Randomization ensures within reasonable limits that test subjects do not differ from controls. These subjects are not randomized, therefore conclusions regarding any clustering may be due to any one of the innumerable other factors these people have in common. Publishing nonsense like this provides no useful information, and in fact is misleading and harmful to the untrained. It is a self evident that self-selected groups will have many other variables in common. Duh!