Take Action: Call the FDA Wednesday on Women's Health

August 22, 2005

As you may know, on July 28, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced its intention to approve dangerous silicone breast implants from Mentor Corporation — but it's not too late to derail that decision, which could injure the long-term health of countless women.

It is time to turn up the heat on FDA Commissioner Lester Crawford and his boss, Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt.

Action Needed:

Please take a minute to join us on Wednesday, August 24, for a nationwide phone-in protest.

That's right. On Wednesday, August 24, we urge every women's health activist to call the FDA and HHS. If we can flood their switchboards with calls from concerned women and men, we can convince these Bush political appointees, who are charged with protecting the public health, to listen to their own FDA professional staff, which has opposed approval of the implants.

We are asking you to make two toll-free phone calls, one to Commissioner Crawford's office and one to Secretary Leavitt's office, to voice your objections to FDA approval for silicone breast implants. There's a sample script below — or you can voice your concerns in your own words. And spread the word to you friends and families to make calls too!

Phone Numbers:

For FDA Commissioner Dr. Lester Crawford:
Call 1-888-463-6332 or 301-827-2410; then press option 3 "contact employee" and ask the operator for Lester Crawford's office.

For HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt:
Call 1-877-696-6775 or 202-690-7000; an operator will answer and ask for the Office of the Secretary

And here is what you should tell them:

I am calling to voice my concern that the FDA may approve silicone breast implants — despite the lack of safety data and despite serious allegations that the manufacturer misrepresented safety information.

I strongly urge the FDA to reject both the Mentor and the Inamed [in'-a-med] applications to sell these silicone implants.

Both of these companies provided only 2 to 3 years of data on how often these implants rupture — But this is a product that women will rely on for decades, not just 2 or 3 years.

Safety must come first!

Approval of silicone breast implants based on such limited data will undermine the integrity of FDA as the defender of public health.

I hope the FDA will stand up for women's health and reject both of these applications to sell silicone breast implants.

After you make you calls, please email us at now@now.org to tell us you made the call and what the response was.

Thank you for stepping up your activity to help us as we approach the FDA's decision day.

For more about silicone breast implants, see NOW's web site.