Home / Health / Patient Advocates Slam Health Canada's 'Useless' Breast Implant Registry
Patient Advocates Slam Health Canada's 'Useless' Breast Implant Registry
7 May
Summary
- New voluntary registry for breast implant recalls is deemed insufficient.
- Patient advocates and experts call the registry 'doomed to fail'.
- Mandatory registries are preferred for tracking and patient safety.
Health Canada recently introduced a voluntary registry to provide direct alerts about breast implant recalls and safety concerns. This initiative aims to support informed decision-making and enhance patient safety by offering a trusted information source.
However, the registry has drawn significant criticism from patient advocates and medical experts. They argue that a voluntary, opt-in system is inadequate and doesn't fulfill the recommendations made by a House of Commons committee two and a half years ago, which called for a mandatory registry with clear informed-consent protocols.
Critics, including patient advocate Terri McGregor, who suffered from breast implant-associated lymphoma, state the voluntary registry is the "worst decision" for patient safety and benefits manufacturers by absolving them of responsibility. Experts like Dr. Jan Willem Cohen Tervaert suggest only 10 to 15 percent of patients will register, rendering it "useless" for tracking patients in emergencies.
Plastic surgeon Peter Lennox and other medical professionals advocate for mandatory, opt-out registries, citing greater data reliability and patient tracking, a model successful in other countries. The lack of mandatory reporting raises concerns about ensuring surgeons properly inform patients about implant risks.
