BISA Represents at the Virtual ASPS “Plastic Surgery The Meeting” 2020

Breast Implant Safety Alliance (BISA) attended the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) annual conference “Plastic Surgery The Meeting.” The meeting was held virtually on October 16-18, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

BISA advocates were pleased to be invited to attend the conference again. The patient advocates representing BISA were Maria Gmitro, Sarah Beckcom, Julie Elliott, Robyn Towt and Terri Diaz. Last year we attended this event in person and we were the first patient advocacy group ever allowed access and granted an exhibitor booth at the event.We are thankful to be given this opportunity to represent our community and provide a voice for our patient community. The virtual format did not lend to much collaboration with patient advocates, however we appreciated learning from speakers and attendees. We felt the presentations on BIA-ALCL, a cancer caused by breast implants, were especially helpful due to the rising number of cases. We look forward to future collaboration.