If Breast Implant Safety Alliance (BISA) were presenting awards for outstanding advocacy work, Jessica Prothe would be one of the top recipients. Jessica uses her personal experience, education and profession in the healthcare field to help advance women’s health issues. She’s published, she’s presented, and she is a true woman of action.

URGENT: Breast Implant Safety Alliance is in need of new or used breast implants for an upcoming awareness project. Send an email to maria@bisanonprofit.org if you can help.

Maria Gmitro, BISA’s President & Founder, was interviewed on Charleston’s Lowcountry Live to discuss breast implant safety, breast implant cancers and to promote the breast cancer wellness event at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC).

On October 12th, during Breast Cancer Awareness month, BISA’s Sherri Gorbett hopes to empower women with her fashion show event in Oregon to raise awareness about breast cancer and breast implant safety.

BISA released the October “Life” Letter with a summer recap and brief updates on what to expect from BISA for the month of October.

New legislation was introduced today, September 21, 2023, to improve patient safety with implanted medical devices, including breast implants. BISA has endorsed this new legislation that would make device tracking and recall notification mandatory.

On October 12th, during Breast Cancer Awareness month, BISA’s Sherri Gorbett hopes to empower women with her fashion show event in Oregon to raise awareness about breast cancer and breast implant safety.

Breast Implant Safety Alliance (BISA) advocates from across the country traveled to Charleston, South Carolina, this summer to advance patient and consumer safety.

The right to affordable access to DIEP flap breast reconstruction has been preserved! Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recent decision to preserve affordable access to breast reconstruction is a win for women.

Psychotherapist, author and BISA’s Mental Health Advisor has been invited to deliver a keynote address at the upcoming Chicago Social Work Conference to be held on August 17th & 18th of 2023.

BISA is part of the Patient, Consumer and Public Health Coalition. The Coalition recently sent a letter to the FDA’s Commissioner Robert Califf expressing concerns about Advisory Committees.

This month, the British Medical Journal (BMJ) published a life-saving article for patients and doctors on Breast Implant Associated Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma (BIA ALCL), the most common cancer caused by breast implants. 

Maria Gmitro and BISA’s Mental Health Advisor Amanda Savage Brown, PhD, LCSW were both quoted in the article from Mad in America, a publication that focuses on science, psychiatry and social justice.

According to the Komen Foundation, “an estimated 300,590 people will be diagnosed with breast cancer and 43,700 that will die from the disease in the U.S. this year alone.” BISA representatives Maria Gmitro and Sarah Beckcom joined the Komen Foundation on Capitol Hill.

BISA leadership, in partnership with the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), attended a highly successful “Hill Day” on June 14, 2023, in Washington, D.C., aimed at educating members of Congress on the alarming trends involving the most common cancer caused by breast implants called Breast Implant Associated Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma (BIA-ALCL).

If you are in the Charleston area, the “Get Engaged” meet and greet welcome event is the perfect opportunity to learn more about the Breast Implant Safety Alliance nonprofit organization and connect with the core advocate team. This is the official kick off event of the 2023 BISA Meeting.

A promise that was marketed by the Ideal Implant manufacturer to breast augmentation patients is now broken and patients who paid for these warranties may now be responsible for future surgery.

Back in 2019, when Breast Implant Safety Alliance (BISA) was founded, advocates hoped there would be more awareness and better safety systems in place by now. Unfortunately, the same issues continue, and new risks are emerging. Advocates from BISA’s core team are traveling from all over the US and Canada to Charleston, South Carolina, from June 8 - June 11th, 2023.

Breast Implant Associated Lymphoma (BIA-ALCL) is a type of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a cancer of the immune system. Accumulating evidence suggests that BIA-ALCL may be a common—not rare—risk from exposure to Allergan Biocell® breast implants.

Washington, DC: On May 16, 2023 members of the Patient, Consumer and Public Health Coalition met with members of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to discuss issues related to prescription and medical device approvals, surveillance and oversight, and how CMS is providing information to the public.