A 20-year-old patient recently asked us about breast augmentation with silicone implants, explaining that an Illinois cosmetic surgeon had offered to perform the procedure if she signed a waiver.
When the FDA reintroduced silicone breast implants for use in cosmetic breast surgery, the restriction put in place was patients had to be at least 22 years of age. The only exception was for patients with severe rippling from a previous breast augmentation or patients requiring them for reconstructive reasons such as Polands Syndrome or other congenital breast deformities.
Use of silicone implants for any other purposes than stated above are considered off label uses. This means the implant manufacturer will not be liable for any problems that may occur.
We told this patient that the proposal to sign a waiver to get silicone implants under the age of 22 seemed unusual and even suspicious. An ethical, board certified plastic surgeon probably would not make such an offer.
