Don’t be a boob

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration took a stance on silicone-gel-filled breast implants recently by deeming them “mostly safe,” but advocacy groups say the medical risks associated with them are too high, according to media reports.

In late June, the FDA announced that while the implants have their approval, women who have them likely will need to have them replaced or removed over time to avoid major complications, such as hardening of the tissue around the implants, asymmetrical pain, infection and implant rupture.

The FDA OK’d the return of silicone breast implants to the market in 2006, after having banned them for 14 years.

According to advocacy groups, including Public Citizen, the known risks of complication—along with silicone-gel implants’ association with lymphoma—“are serious enough to warrant advising women against having these implanted,” said Dr. Sidney Wolfe, director of Public Citizen’s Health Research Group.