A Californian woman has been awarded $85,000 from a lawsuit after falling on a sidewalk and rupturing her breast implant.
As reported on by local San Diego NBC affiliate, Cynthia Hedgecock tripped and fell on the street on a sidewalk needing repairs; more than two weeks later, she sought medical attention with “complaints of chest pain and breast deformities.”
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According to the lawsuit, Hedgecock then found out both her silicone breast implants were “irreparably damaged” and had not only ruptured, but had leaked into her bloodstream. She later removed the implants and underwent surgery to replace them.
Hedgecock, the wife of former San Diego mayor and conservative radio talk-show host Roger Hedgecock, will receive $84,924 after a jury ruled that the city did not maintain the sidewalk and fix needed repairs, which led to the fall. She did not sue the breast implant company.
While this is definitely a scary story, West Hollywood, CA, plastic surgeon Gary Motykie, MD, stresses that, in general, breast implants are made to be extremely durable, are nearly “rupture-proof,” and the majority of silicone breast implants have been upgraded to being warranted for a lifetime, rather than the often thrown-around term of 10 years.
“It takes a very forceful impact such as a car accident or direct hit from a powerful force to rupture an implant. There have been television specials in which breast implants were stomped on, thrown across the room and microwaved—without detriment to their outer shells.”
Still not convinced? “There is even a story of a female war veteran that was shot in the chest and her breast implant saved her life,” Dr. Motykie says.
