Pete Dorsey


Tennessee

Hello – my name is Pete Dorsey, I am the husband of Susan Dorsey and we live in Mt. Juliet, Tennesee, which is a suburb of Nashville. I am here in support of my wife who was a participant a while back in a clinical research trial of silicone breast implants offered by Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville.

Susan and I have been together since 1999 and, until she became a participant in the silicone breast implant study, she was extremely healthy, physically active, very confident and a lot of fun to be around. In 2005, almost immediately after she had her existing saline breast implants replaced with silicone implants, her health, her life and my life began to change. Not only would Susan describe to me the unusual things that she was feeling, but I could definitely notice some of the changes taking place in her. She started complaining of things like dizziness, various joint pains, physical and mental anxieties, blurred vision and a host of other symptoms that were all new and that we did not understand the origin of at the time.

With these things happening to her, our lives changed. As things became worse, she became almost reclusive, and our social lives became very limited. All kinds of doctor and medical visits became a necessary part of our lives. As the months went by, her health got noticeably worse. She reached the point that she couldn’t even drive herself. I therefore had to somehow work into my job schedule the various trips she needed to make to her medical appointments.

In the years we spent together prior to her 2005 silicone implant replacement surgery, Susan was always very much in-tune with her own body and the health of everyone in our family. She began to question her overall health and became suspicious of her new implants. Although unsure of exactly what was causing her new multiple health issues, she made the wise choice to have the new silicone breast implants removed from her body.

After removing these silicone implants and having them replaced with saline ones, her health immediately began to change for the good. Many of her symptoms and ailments started to disappear and today -six years later – her good health has almost returned.

I am here today as a concerned husband to tell you as best that I can, in the time I have been allotted, that my wife has needlessly suffered due to the silicone breast implants that were sold to her and surgically put into her body. As a family, we were forced to endure many trials and tribulations that should not have ever been. Not only can I advise you of the adverse changes that took place in my wife, Susan, and in our lives as husband and wife, but I can certainly also quantify the $100,000 plus that we have had to spend because of this mess. In my opinion, these particular silicone implants should be totally banned from use and not be allowed to ruin anyone’s life ever again.

Pete testified at the FDA Advisory Committee Meeting on breast implants on August 30, 2011.