Screening and Discussion of ABSOLUTELY SAFE
Saturday, October 18
FOR: All genders, all ages at parent’s discretion.
TIME: Doors open 6:30, Event 7-9 pm
COST: Free and open to the public.
LOCATION: The GODDESS TEMPLE of Orange County
17905 Sky Park Circle, Ste A, Irvine, CA 92614
CONTACT: Charlotte Cressey with questions. (949)667-0693
Watch the trailer and learn more about the film www.absolutelysafe.com
DESCRIPTION: Screening and discussion of the acclaimed documentary ABSOLUTELY SAFE, examining the controversy over breast implant safety.
At a time when more women than ever are getting breast implants, fewer voices than ever seem to be asking “Why?” And fewer still are asking “Are they safe?” ABSOLUTELY SAFE takes an open-minded, personal approach to the controversy over breast implant safety. Ultimately, ABSOLUTELY SAFE is the story of everyday women who find themselves and their breasts in the tangled and confusing intersection of health, money, science, and beauty.
At its heart, ABSOLUTELY SAFE is driven by the experience of the filmmaker’s own mother. Diagnosed in 1974 with breast tumors, Audrey Ciancutti underwent a double mastectomy with silicone-implant reconstruction surgery. A year later, her implants ruptured, and soon after, her health steadily declined. Like thousands of other women, Audrey believes her debilitating illnesses—joint pain, chronic fatigue, scleroderma — are linked to her breast implants; however, most doctors and researchers deny this link. Among the debate by plastic surgeons, toxicologists, attorneys, implant manufacturers, whistle blowers, government officials and activists, ABSOLUTELY SAFE introduces more everyday women like Audrey who make choices about their breasts in our appearance driven culture.
Audrey tells the 2003 FDA Advisory Panel that she did not have an informed choice about her implants.
“There was no negative information given to me at the time to say that they could affect my health in any way.
Dr. Michael Harbut, MD, MPH, FCCP
“I think that the science on the implants has been so discouraged from actually being undertaken in a coherent and realistic fashion that we really don’t know much about these devices at all…
The occupational medicine literature is emphatic in its opinion that at no stage should a worker be exposed to any liquid or solid containing any platinum salt.”
John Byrne , Executive Editor, Business Week
“All you have to know is one simple thing. The manufacturer never proved that the devices were safe and effective, because they never did the due diligence, the work that was necessary in clinical studies, and in scientific discovery, to make that assumption, and to make that conclusion. And that at the very base of this debate is what has to be done.”
ABSOLUTELY SAFE has partnered with NOW (The National Organization for Women), Our Bodies Ourselves, and the National Council of Women’s Organizations to bring this film and this information to the public.
