McGhan Medical seeks end of FDA silicone implant ban

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (May 16)—Inamed Corp.´s McGhan Medical unit said it plans to apply for Food and Drug Administration approval of five styles of silicone-gel breast implants by the fourth quarter of 2002. The FDA severely limited access to silicone implants in 1992, because of widespread concerns that the devices caused connective tissue disease in women. Recent studies, however, have shown no link between silicone and those ailments. McGhan, meanwhile, has reported encouraging data from the clinical study on silicone breast implants it began in 1997.