Thread by @WomenReadWomen

The first silicone breast implants were performed on Japanese women trafficked into sex slavery during WWII American occupation.
The silicone, stolen from shipping docks, was injected directly into their breasts, resulting in gangrene or “silicone rot”, and in some cases, death.

As early as 1899, men were injecting women's breasts with paraffin wax, causing infections. Male doctors killed countless women by implanting them with: glass balls, wood chips, kitchen sponges, and substances destined for fuel or industrial rubber tubing.
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

In recent years, even silicone implants have been linked to a novel form of breast cancer and class-action lawsuits.
New FDA Guidelines identify women who suffered breast cancer as most at risk for implant cancer — the group they are most marketed towards.
nytimes.com/2021/10/27/hea…

In 1962, US doctors Gerow & Cronin inserted a silicone implant into a dog named Esmeralda, waited a few weeks, then declared breast implants “as harmless as water”.

They convinced a woman who’d only wanted an ear tuck to get them, gambling with her life.
bbc.com/news/magazine-…

An ad for the silicone injections performed on sex trafficked Japanese women.

Despite infections & deaths, it says, "No harmful effects have been reported".

Injections were banned in 1965, after the invention of implants, which were tested only on one dog before use on a woman.

Within a few years of Japan's experimentation with silicone, an estimated 50,000 U.S. women, including 10,000 waitresses and showgirls, were injected.

The doctors had experimented on them without permission.

Their records were never sent to the FDA.
archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=…