DETROIT – Former Local 4 traffic reporter Tracy Gary testified Tuesday before an FDA panel on her ongoing health struggles that she believes were caused by breast implants.
Gary told the FDA her story, detailing some of her struggles with chronic fatigue, depression, hair loss and other health issues following breast implants.
"This went on for 20 years and got progressively worse," Gary said, adding she had suicidal thoughts. "People are not talking about how implants impact your brain."
"Shame on you," Gary told the FDA panel. "This has been going on since the 90s. Do your jobs."
Watch her full testimony in the video player above.
Last year, Gary told Local 4's Devin Scillian that the last several years have been agony for her.
Gary is convinced her breast implants were a source of a wide spectrum illness that caused her years of chronic fatigue, depression, hair loss and other various mental health issues.
"I don't know how I survived this, honest to God. The depression is the absolute worst thing I've ever gone through," Gary told Devin Scillian.
See Devin Scillian's interview with Gary here.
Doctors told her it was menopause. Some suggested it was all in her head. Gary said no doctor believed it was the breast implants that were causing it.
Gary, through internet search, found other women who seemed to be suffering the same issues. An online community for "breast implant illness" is growing, although it's not recognized by medicine or insurance.
Gary had the implants removed and she says she immediately improved.
FDA to review safety of breast implants this week
This week, the FDA announced it would review the safety of breast implants.
The FDA Medical Devices Advisory Committee's General and Plastic Surgery Devices Panel convenes Monday and Tuesday to discuss and make recommendations relating to the risks and benefits of breast implants.
The meeting, which is open to the public, comes just days after the FDA issued warning letters to two breast implant manufacturers for failing to comply with the agency's requirements to conduct long-term studies assessing the safety and risks of their silicone gel-filled implants.
The committee plans to discuss reports of breast implants being linked to a rare cancer called anaplastic large cell lymphoma; the use of registries for maintaining breast implant surveillance; and best practices for informed consent discussions between patients and clinicians, among other topics.
There are two types of breast implants approved for sale in the United States. They both have a silicone outer shell, but one is saline-filled and the other is silicone gel-filled. They can vary in size and shape, and are typically implanted to either increase breast size or to rebuild breast tissue, such as after a mastectomy or other damage to the breast.
The ASPS released new data earlier this month that revealed 313,735 breast augmentation procedures were performed in 2018, which was a 4% jump from the 300,378 procedures conducted in 2017.
Breast augmentation was the most popular cosmetic surgical procedure performed in 2018, according to the ASPS statistics.
While most breast implant patients are happy with the procedure, as many as 20% of women who receive implants for augmentation have to have their implants removed within eight to 10 years, relating to complications, according to the FDA.