Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Sunday Morning

Silicone Study

Aired June 01, 2003 - 10:43   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


SOPHIA CHOI, CNN ANCHOR: In other medical news, some women searching for a more natural feeling breast implant are once again opting for silicone. CNN's Whitney Casey has more now on a new federal study on the banned implants.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITNEY CASEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Twenty-eight- year-old Michelle Swanchak gets her final post-op breast exam. It is silicone, and it brought Michelle up two bra sizes from an A cup to a C.

MICHELLE SWANCHAK, SILICONE RECIPIENT: I actually waited for silicone just because it was more of a natural look.

CASEY: Similar to the silicone implants that were taken off the market in the early 1990s, when the FDA mandated more tests to see if the implants caused breast cancer or autoimmune disease. Silicone is still banned for elective surgery. However, Michelle's Manhattan plastic surgeon, Dr. Stephen Herman is one of 35 clinics around U.S. taking part in an FDA study using silicone implants.

DR. STEPHEN HERMAN, PLASTIC SURGEON: I personally believe that as long as these test goes well and we have no reason to have any other reason to believe that it would be any different, yes, do I expect that silicone implants will eventually be back on the market.

CASEY: Some doctors believe the FDA will approve implants as early as next year. In the U.S. breast augmentation has now surpassed liposuction as the number one procedure for women in plastic surgery.

CASEY (on camera): In the mast year, more than quarter of a million women have had breast enlargements. That number is up 500 percent from just 10 years ago, and researchers say it's possible that 1.5 to 2 million women in the United States have had the procedure. However, those in the fashion industry, the people that drive the trends say these numbers just don't make sense.

SUZE YALOR-SCHWARTZ, SENIOR STYLE EDITOR, "GLAMOUR" MAGAZINE: We've done a lot of breast gone bad articles, and when you read those articles, it makes you want to buy a padded bra.

CASEY (voice over): "Glamour" magazine's Suze Yalor- Schwartz says for summer, it's more skin, less breast. Suze's done hundreds of surgery-free makeovers on women with all body types.

YALOR-SCHWARTZ: For the May issue, we did bikini makeovers.

CASEY (on camera): These women though would go to a plastic surgeon, and the plastic surgeon would say, oh, yes, you have an A cup. I can make that an B cup or a C cup.

YALOR-SCHWARTZ: Right. I can, too, but I can just do it with clothing.

CASEY (voice over): An $11 gap bra instead of a $5,000 to $10,000 surgery. The department store instead of the doctor. Silicone, saline, or au natural. Women like Michelle Swanchak now have more choices than ever.

Whitney Casey, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired June 1, 2003 - 10:43   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOPHIA CHOI, CNN ANCHOR: In other medical news, some women searching for a more natural feeling breast implant are once again opting for silicone. CNN's Whitney Casey has more now on a new federal study on the banned implants.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITNEY CASEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Twenty-eight- year-old Michelle Swanchak gets her final post-op breast exam. It is silicone, and it brought Michelle up two bra sizes from an A cup to a C.

MICHELLE SWANCHAK, SILICONE RECIPIENT: I actually waited for silicone just because it was more of a natural look.

CASEY: Similar to the silicone implants that were taken off the market in the early 1990s, when the FDA mandated more tests to see if the implants caused breast cancer or autoimmune disease. Silicone is still banned for elective surgery. However, Michelle's Manhattan plastic surgeon, Dr. Stephen Herman is one of 35 clinics around U.S. taking part in an FDA study using silicone implants.

DR. STEPHEN HERMAN, PLASTIC SURGEON: I personally believe that as long as these test goes well and we have no reason to have any other reason to believe that it would be any different, yes, do I expect that silicone implants will eventually be back on the market.

CASEY: Some doctors believe the FDA will approve implants as early as next year. In the U.S. breast augmentation has now surpassed liposuction as the number one procedure for women in plastic surgery.

CASEY (on camera): In the mast year, more than quarter of a million women have had breast enlargements. That number is up 500 percent from just 10 years ago, and researchers say it's possible that 1.5 to 2 million women in the United States have had the procedure. However, those in the fashion industry, the people that drive the trends say these numbers just don't make sense.

SUZE YALOR-SCHWARTZ, SENIOR STYLE EDITOR, "GLAMOUR" MAGAZINE: We've done a lot of breast gone bad articles, and when you read those articles, it makes you want to buy a padded bra.

CASEY (voice over): "Glamour" magazine's Suze Yalor- Schwartz says for summer, it's more skin, less breast. Suze's done hundreds of surgery-free makeovers on women with all body types.

YALOR-SCHWARTZ: For the May issue, we did bikini makeovers.

CASEY (on camera): These women though would go to a plastic surgeon, and the plastic surgeon would say, oh, yes, you have an A cup. I can make that an B cup or a C cup.

YALOR-SCHWARTZ: Right. I can, too, but I can just do it with clothing.

CASEY (voice over): An $11 gap bra instead of a $5,000 to $10,000 surgery. The department store instead of the doctor. Silicone, saline, or au natural. Women like Michelle Swanchak now have more choices than ever.

Whitney Casey, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com