On November 17, the USFDA has approved the use of silicone gel breast implants manufactured by the two Californian companies: Mentor (Silicone Gel-Filled Breast Implants) and Allergan (Inamed® Silicone-Filled Breast Implants).

After a 14-year ban in the United States, silicone gel breast implants (of the specified manufacturers) can now be used in the United States for breast reconstruction and cosmetic breast augmentation, but limited cosmetic use of the implants to women ages 22 and older.

From the NY Times:

Silicone breast implants were available in the United States as early as the 1960s. Following complaints and lawsuits in the 1970s and 1980s that the devices ruptured and became hard and painful and that some women developed cancer and autoimmune diseases, implant makers agreed to take their products off the market in the United States in 1992, except for treating mastectomy patients and in some other special cases and only when the patients were enrolled in clinical studies.

Hmm. Breast reconstruction sounds clinically valid to me, but cosmetic breast augmentation is a term (to me) reeking of vanity.

Not that I have something against people who go for breast augmentation. Why not, especially if you can afford the procedure?

HOWEVER, whether you are a common woman or a celebrity, what other reason is there for cosmetic breast augmentation but plain vanity?

But then that's just me.

Read the full report at NY Times.

[In photo: Siltex® Textured Surface Breast Implants by Mentor]