Health committee  They're completely independent. Our education doesn't come from industry. It comes from other surgeons. It's frowned upon to have industry supporting educational events, but it was not that uncommon in the past. Maybe 10 or 15 years ago, it would be common for industry to support educational events, but now there's a very strict line separating education from industry.

Health committee  It's a very interesting and important question, which I can't answer because these patients don't even come to see the plastic surgeon before they leave. They make contact with a surgeon in a different country, probably because somebody in their family has already been there. I think that is education.

Health committee  Absolutely.

Health committee  I dictate it into the operative record. I provide the patient with a copy of the implant detail, and we send a copy to the implant manufacturer. I always thought it was a bit odd and that it should maybe go some place other than the company that just sold us the implant, particularly if there were failures.

Health committee  That's a complicated question. You know, if you grow up in a Ford family, you tend to drive a Ford. It's the same kind of analogy. I'm not.... That's no plug for Ford.

Health committee  You tend to adopt a lot of the things that you saw worked for the surgeon who trained you. I worked with surgeons who liked smooth, round company A implants. That's what I used. I didn't see anything at all those meetings I attended that would dissuade me from that. It was a good choice, because those ones hadn't really caused any problems that we know of.

Health committee  I'm not sure they would have all the demographic information, so possibly.

Health committee  Yes, absolutely.

Health committee  It's not at all perfect. In fact, with the limitations of the medical records, those records will only stay in the office for seven years. The surgeon may retire, move or die, and the records are lost.

Health committee  We go to meetings every year and we listen to presentations about safety issues, about which implant is better, about which has the lower complication rate. It's absolutely part of our DNA to always try to do the right operation and use the right materials for it. It's a constant discussion in our specialty.

Health committee  In preparing for this appearance, I heard one estimate of two million breast implants per year in the world.

Health committee  No. I'm sorry.

Health committee  It makes a lot of sense, and I'm not exactly sure what breast implant manufacturers do before they bring something to market. I don't actually know what they do. I'm sure they have some beta testers, but I'm not sure how rigorous it is.

Health committee  It's because it's an effort. It's extra work. The surgeons are very reluctant to participate in studies, because it takes an extra effort to collect the data and submit the data. That's obstacle number one in almost all of the clinical studies that I've been around in my experience.

Health committee  Yes.