FDA turns down silicone breast implants

Thirteen years after most silicone-gel breast implants were banned, federal health advisers on Tuesday narrowly rejected a manufacturer's request to bring them back to the U.S. market, citing lingering questions about safety and durability.

My colleague and friend Sally Satel has a particularly devastating op-ed about the political nature of this decision.

Ever since women began enlarging their breasts with implants, feminists have been upset. So, predictably, when a Food and Drug Administration advisory panel begins hearings today to consider approval of silicone-gel-filled breast implants, feminist health activists will urge them to reject the devices as unsafe. But the data emphatically do not justify their concern.

UPDATE: Of course, the next day the panel voted by 7 to 2 to approve at least one type of silicone-gel breast implant.