Political Quotes

“as history has proven, research for women's health issues has consistently been underfunded. I rise today to recognize yet another case of injustice concerning women's health. Currently there are 10 million U.S. citizens suffering from temporomandibular jaw disorder, (TMD). This disorder targets women; nearly 90 percent of TMD patients are female. TMD is a very painful condition that can lead to severe dysfunction of the muscles that control chewing. Complicating the disorder even further, in 1973, medical devices containing silicone were approved to replace part of the jaw in an irreversible surgery. This procedure, although not adequately researched, was aggressively marketed by alloplastic device suppliers. Approximately 150,000 women with TMD received implants between 1973 and 1990. Today, these implants have proven disastrous. In 1989, nearly 20 years after they went on the market, the FDA declared alloplastic implants unsafe. The medical complications caused by the sharding of the silicone in TMD implants over time has resulted in bone and tissue deterioration as the alloplastic particles travel throughout the body. Bone loss in some cases has resulted in holes in the skull leading to the brain. Many women have been left disfigured; lacking bone structure and/or muscular control. The magnitude of suffering undergone by TMD patients with implants can only be categorized as a medical catastrophe.”