Robert Whitfield MD discusses how to talk to patients about medical device risks and benefits. He notes that young people often can't grasp long-term consequences, and he stopped placing breast implants four years ago after weighing individual factors like genetics and toxin exposure.
It's my job to make people understand and inform them properly of the risks and benefits of having a device. And I've always felt very strongly that it's very hard when you're 18, to understand the risks and benefits of a medical device. I think, you know, for me, personally, they ask. I get asked all the time. You know, people won't put me on the spot. Would I let my daughter get breast implants, or would I let my wife get breast implants? All you can do is lay out the facts. This is what I know. And I know their genetics, and I know their diets, and I know their toxicity burdens. So I'm not ever going to stop anybody from getting an implant because they've already decided that I'm not going to put an implant in because I stopped putting them in about four years ago.
