The Very Real Consequences of Breast Implant Illness- Interview with Shaher Khan, M.D.

Intro: 0:00

Get ready to hear the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth about the United States healthcare system with your host of the medical truth podcast, James Egidio.

James Egidio: 0:17

Hi, I’m James. your host at the medical truth podcast, the podcast that tells the truth. The whole truth and nothing but the truth about the American healthcare system. For more than a decade between 2006 and 2019. Breast augmentation surgery was the most popular cosmetic surgical procedure in the United States. According to recent statistics, there were 364,753 breast augmentation surgeries in the United States in 2021. Making it second, only to liposuction in popularity. However, the American society of plastic surgeons says the numbers are dropping. In the United States, some plastic surgeons make breast implant surgery, the primary focus of their medical practice. Spending thousands of advertising dollars per month to drum up business. My guest is a double boarded plastic surgeon who stands against his peers. The FDA. And the doctor organizations who all claim breast implants are harmless. It is an honor and a pleasure to have on the medical truth podcast. My guest Dr. Shaher Kahn hi, Dr. Khan, how are you doing?

Dr. Shaher Khan: 1:26

I am doing very well. Thank you so much for having me as a guest. It’s a pleasure and honor to be here and to discuss a very hot topic and a topic that not many people, plastic surgeons, want to discuss, but something that’s very real and very truth, just like you said, that there are Hard facts that will, as you will see, are undenied not only by the FDA by the medical community, but also certainly by the many patients

James Egidio: 1:54

share with the viewers and listeners of the medical truth podcast who you are and what you do in your medical practice.

Dr. Shaher Khan: 2:02

Sure. So I am Dr. Shahar Khan. I’m a board certified general surgeon where I did five years of general surgery training during which I did two years of burns critical. So that was seven years. And then following that I did three years of plastic surgery training. And so I’m a board certified plastic surgeon as well. A total of 10 years after medical school. And so as a board certified plastic surgeon by the American society of plastic surgeons, my practice is exclusively devoted to removal of ceiling implants, silicone implants, and residual capsules. And so this is. The area of expertise. I talk about it. This is an area that I myself when I finished my fellowship training, I decided not to augment which is the most common plastic surgery procedure done by plastic surgeons. I chose not to do a procedure that has been shown in the past to be detrimental to the patient’s health in 1992, as we all know. The silicon breast implants were banned. And as you can see, history is repeating itself essentially. And the same set of problems that the patients presented with in the 80s and early 90s that led to the ban. We see the many patients. That are now coming forth in the masses hurting. And basically the victims of what is silicon toxicity. So this is essentially my practice exclusively devoted to removal of breast implants and residual capsules. That is residual capsules, meaning where the implants were removed, both saline and silicone by other surgeons, but the capsules were left behind. And remember the whole goal of the surgery, as you will see, which is the going theme that the implant capsule and that inflammatory tissue around is removed. Since now the patient can bounce back to a normal state of good health. And so this is essentially my practice.

James Egidio: 3:51

So what inspired you to do explants as opposed to implants?

Dr. Shaher Khan: 3:57

So when I. During my training from 2003 onward, we this was the era where the silicon implants were banned. So the patients were coming forth in the masses, literally thousands and hundreds of thousands of patients over the years from when the band occurred. Who were explanting and so I saw firsthand when I was a med student when I was a surgical resident when we did The mastectomies for example as general surgery We saw the many patients who were hurting from the implants and one after another so I saw the detrimental bad effects Now i’m a biochemist from my undergraduate training. So I know the molecular aspects the biochemical aspects of for example vitamin c for example, I synthesized that in an organic lab and now also silicon dioxide, for example, the main ingredient and also the many heavy metals that composed of or that basically make up breast implants. So I saw firsthand the many patients who were hurting and the ill effects of the silicon breast implants and certainly the saline implants. So I said, I’m not going to do something that I don’t believe in, even though this is. quote, the most common surgical procedure done by plastic surgeons. And this is, a surgery that’s done as you heard one of the other plastic surgeons said, he said 10 minutes per site. And in under 45 minutes to an hour, the augmentation is done. So it’s a very quick procedure. And most of the patients are otherwise healthy. So I said, I’m not going to do something that I don’t believe in, even though financially it’s. the number one rewarding procedure for plastic surgeons. Now, when I started to do hands and face skin cancer reconstruction using artificial skin, remember plastic surgery or all has 3000 operations. So I chose what I needed to do as far as a reconstructive plastic surgeon and other aspects. Now, my own patients started coming to me and started talking about what. Is breast implant analyst the same problem that I had learned in the early years of my training, and specifically the 10 years of my training. And you saw, I saw firsthand those patients. So now I remove one implant, second and third. And then in 2000 in the late 2000 18, I started doing a whole lot more. In 2019, I gave a lecture on what is breast implant unless I myself, for my training and the next thing you know, one of my patients, from Arizona. She made this breast implant illness support group private page, the facebook page that we know of today. And I did not even have a facebook account, no instagram, none of this. And she set it up. And now I have almost 10,000 patients that follow me. We are a very organic group in a sense. by word of mouth, and there’s only one focus, which is to help the patient. There is no other interest from a financial perspective. I’m only better off. Putting an implants and I don’t because removal of the implant as you will see is a four hour process. And the next thing, one thing led to another. And now I basically slowly and slowly very surprisingly, but very appropriately my practice is now essentially devoted to what is explantation. And I can say very happily, the And very honorably and humbly that I’m the only board certified plastic surgeon who has specifically deliberately purposefully not Augmented simply because I chose not to so that I wouldn’t hurt the patients.

James Egidio: 7:25

Yeah So when I opened up this, episode, I mentioned a very interesting statistic and that was according to recent statistics there were 364,753 breast augmentations, which you were just mentioning surgeries in the United States in 2021, making it 2nd, only to liposuction and popularity and. The American Society of plastic surgeons says the numbers are, of course, dropping. So 364,753 breast augmentations in 2021. how many explants have taken place. Perhaps since that time.

Dr. Shaher Khan: 8:09

So every year, the latest numbers that came out from 22 now, and they just I posted them on my Facebook. There were almost 390,000 augmentation. So they went up and there was only 37, 000 explants. So a fraction a fraction almost 10%, if you will, of the ladies had explanted despite what we know of today. But absolutely, if you look at the number of ladies who have explanted now or this in the year 22 versus in the years past, that number is significantly high. If you go look at the Google search engine, and this was again published in data, there was a 235 percent increase over the years as far as that search for the term breast implant illness. So there is definitely been a lot of awareness. There are celebrities, a lot of them that have come forth and discussed their journeys. For example, Danica Patrick and then many others from Hollywood, where they mentioned clearly that the breast implants were truly classically associated where you have the before and afters pictures and the pictures of the faces that to speak for themselves where the patient sought benefit and relief from the many signs and symptoms of breast implant illness. Now there are believe it or not discussions in the Cosmopolitan magazine that talk about explantation and how the average patient is using the social media platform and again, something very similar to what you’re offering. This will help raise awareness because there are and this is the another absolute finding where you have a lot of young ladies. 20, 30, 40 year olds and certainly the old too, who are hurting from the many signs and symptoms of breast implant illness, where they have hair loss, migraines, dryness of the eyes, sinus problems, endocrine issues, they have psychological issues like anxiety, depression, panic attacks, they have neck and back pain, fibromyalgia type symptoms, breathing problems, chest pain capsular contractures. They have irregular heartbeats, palpitations, GI disturbances, rheumatological problems, which are the hallmark features of what is breast implant illness, including fatigue, the most common symptom. You have reproductive issues, premature menopause, plantar fasciitis endocrine adrenal issues amongst all organ systems that have been negatively affected. And now when they did get the Ex-plant. You will see directly the patients who have nothing to gain except for their good health. And again, this is again in the early 90s and 80s when the patients got together and the ban occurred. This is the same momentum that’s increasing over the the years. Five, seven years ago, no one had even heard the word breast implant unless now it is a very common discussion amongst the many Facebook group discussion groups where the patients themselves are taking ownership and responsibility of their own health and despite what. The average plastic surgeon is saying they themselves are overriding that recommendation and getting explanted because they are seeking benefits from the explant. Now, this is where if you group together a thousand plastic surgeons, 900 of them don’t want to even hear the word breast implant illness. So if they don’t want to hear it, the treatment is not going to be recommended or suggested. And you will hear and see. Definitively that the patients certainly seek benefit from an explained because When they go to the doctor tells them all your numbers are fine. The exams are remarkable. I do not know what you’re talking about. With the dryness of the eyes or the heart palpitations or the GI issues, or rheumatological joint problems. Sometimes they get labeled as fibromyalgia and unfortunately the disease gets, the patient is not convinced because she’s relying and depending on her doctor now she takes it upon herself to go to the social media post and then she li listens verbatim. The same set of problems that the patients are presenting with, and now they’re solved because they were able to explant and remove the implant. Now what’s interesting is this. If you look at the FDA warning that came out in 2021, which was a major black label, black box warning, which basically said this. Three warnings and I want your listeners you yourself and anyone to listen in on this number one They said breast implants are not meant to be in the body forever So this is huge meaning if one gets them, it’s a period of time they said 10 to 15 years I say 7 to 10 some ladies as soon as 2, 3 years. They know their body is not the same And eventually every single patient, that means 100 percent of the patients are going to succumb to breast implant illness, some sooner, some later, because the breast implants do rupture, be it saline or silicone. And so when the silicone ruptures, you can imagine the silicone toxicity, silicone granulomas. Now these are hard established facts. So this is coming from the FDA. Number two, the FDA mentioned that breast implants are associated with lymphoma, specifically the textured ones that led to the ban initially by France and then ultimately by the U. S. Textured implants cause more inflammation and hence a higher chance for lymphoma, which is the B. I. A. ALCL, which is the breast implant associated anaplastic larsal lymphoma. And they said textured implants to the point where they’re banned, but certainly they said the smooth implants too. That means the smooth saline and the smooth silicone as well, but to a lesser extent. And they said it is absolutely underreported, because no one is checking or looking out for what is the lymphoma. And not only that, they mentioned that squamous cell cancer, another type of cancer, is directly associated with cancer and associated with the breast implants. And then they mentioned others as well, meaning other cancer. And then the third thing that the FDA mentioned was that patients Report confusion, chest pain, joint pain, and other breast implant illness problems. And they mentioned, quote, complete resolution. And the term here is complete resolution. Quote, unquote, off symptoms. when the implants are removed. So they’re telling you, acknowledging that breast implants exist. Now, in some ladies, they come back with almost all the questions on that questionnaire that I asked my patients to fill out where the symptoms of brain fog, fatigue the vision problems, GI disturbances, vertigo, tinnitus, ringing in the ears, spinning of the head, among others.,So the ladies check those books, some subtle. some more. Now, what’s interesting is, so this is a hard fact. Now imagine if I’m trying to sell or an implant or try to sell you, here in the motor city, we sell cars that some patients have died from lymphoma, that there are not meant to be in the body forever. And that there are these problems that are associated. I will tell you that in itself. should deter any reasonable patient from getting implants. Now the other thing I want to mention here is, if you listen to mentor itself, the manufacturer, you will hear them say that there is this risk of silent rupture with silicone implants. That means, they themselves, mentor for example, tells you if you have silicone implants at year 3, Of getting the implants you need to get a MRI and then every two years there onward for the life of that Silicone implant to look for what is a silent rupture a rupture of the silicone implant now i’ll tell you over time remember Point number one by the FDA they’re not meant to be in the body forever and there is risk for premature rupture as well So you will hear that some patients present with the unremarkable exam. Just this past week, I took care of a lady from West Virginia and her exam was essentially unremarkable, good result. And lo and behold, to my surprise and to her surprise, she had a ruptured right breast implant and she did not know that. But it was the pain that brought her in. So now looking back at it, that was the, now some, a lot of patients have pain and they have a normal implant. So you can get capsular contracture. Now, going back to the point, What are the risks associated breast implant? Now, what were highlighted by the FDA? Now, the other thing that the manufacturers themselves say, if someone has an autoimmune issue, they should not be getting implants. That means if they have Crohn’s, ulcerative colitis, they have scleroderma, they have diabetes and immune compromised system. They should not be getting implants, multiple sclerosis, for example, should not be. Fact number two, any patient who has anxiety, depression, psychological issues, they mentioned should not be getting. And anyone who’s. pregnant. Obviously they’re, they absolutely make this a point. Anyone who’s pregnant or nursing should not get implants. This is again highlighted by mentor. And if you go to my private breast implant on the support group page, you will see, or my main public page, you will see, I highlighted this in their mentor ad itself, where the manufacturer is alerting the patients that this is. to look out and watch out for. And so if you look at now, other reasons why capsular contracture can occur infection, you can sometimes have a biofilm that may form around the implant that may potentially trigger endo infection. Fungal infections have been noted. Malpositioning over time, the implants droop down and out. Majority of the implants are placed below the muscles. So now the entire shoulder, chest, neck, and back function of this young mom or the young ladies is affected permanently to the worst, meaning you’ve cut the muscle at the bottom in order to put in the implant. You have patients that, this is another big one, one out of eight or nine women end up getting breast cancer in the United States, an established fact, nor denying their. And you’ll see now when the lady has a Implant because of a capsular contracture, maybe grade three or grade four painful, she’s not going to be able to do a self monthly breast exam and now breast cancer is going to go undetected, which is the number one most common way of picking a breast cancer is a self monthly breast exam. Right after that is a mammogram and many patients choose not to get a mammogram because they’re afraid they might hurt their chest. or their implant or they might cause premature rupture and now breast cancer is going undetected. And so point after point now, just the fact alone, they’re not meant to be in the body forever. And some ladies have had a rupture at five years into their look that again, the mentor is telling you, you need to get an MRI at year three. And then every two years they’re onward. So Point after point if you just listen to all what I have said and again fact check everything that I said These are not my words. These are not my opinions This is coming from the FDA and this is coming directly from the manufacturer itself and you will see this I have posted this on my Facebook page and also on my web page you will see this No one should meet criteria and no one should be getting implants because they all hurt. And one thing I want to mention here is any patient that comes in with saline implants or silicone implants, they have the same set of problems. Suicidal ideation, joint pain, neck pain, some more, some less. And eventually again, all patients will succumb to breast implant illness because the implants are not meant to be in the body forever.

James Egidio: 19:53

I have a loaded question for you. So you mentioned briefly the chemicals that are in the actual breast implant. What are the compounds or chemicals in the implant that gets the patient sick? Number one and number two. What causes an implant to actually rupture? Because you mentioned ruptured implants. Yes.

Dr. Shaher Khan: 20:16

The, if you look at the many, the ingredient list, you will see silicon dioxide, platinum, all the heavy metals you can imagine. And there’s 30 or so. And one can only Google chemical composition of the the breast implants, silicone and the sealing ones because remember the silicone shell of the sealing implant that in itself is enough to cause the same set of problems that silicone implants cause. And so what happens is once the implant is placed into the body recognizes this sealing or silicone implant as foreign. Now it starts mounting an immune response and we know this from the histology from the microscopic studies that acute inflammation occurs, then followed by chronic inflammation because the body is trying to fight this. Now what happens, and this is another take home message, the silicone implant starts breaking down, leaching silicone particles, small amounts, directly into the periphery. And. What happens is the body tries to contain it. And we know this from the pathology giant cells, which are large microphages group together, which are cleaner cells, inflammatory cells off the body. Start Protecting the body itself from what is this foreign body, which is the implant. Then you see patients with giant cell reaction, as I mentioned, histiocytic reaction, foamy macrophages. You have silica that is sometimes seen directly within the capsule. And this is, again, all reported by the pathologist. And, again, I highlight these pathology. Ports directly. And on my Facebook page of the many patients that come to me from all over the us, literally two thirds of my patients come to me from out of town away because of the way in the manner that I do. So now this silicon, that’s. leached out or bled into. This is what causes this problem. Now we know this for many facts. Again, you look at Dr. Atul Mehta, who’s a pulmonologist out of the Cleveland clinic, who did a biopsy of the lung that is underneath the rib. And he concluded there was the ground glass opacities within the lung tissue that is suggestive and consistent with silica proven directly because he had done electron microscopy. And energy dispersive x rays clearly showing that there was silica. Dr. Henry Dyckman out of the Netherlands. And there are many patients who have gone with lymph nodes that are palpable, that are notable. And they did a analysis and they found silica. So there’s silicon leaching. And there was another patient, for example she ended up having a rupture. And once she died, she donated her body to science. And they did. biopsies of the spleen and other areas and they found silica within. Also what I did was I sent a saline implant intact to Dr. Henry Dyckman in the Netherlands. He took the saline from the saline implant and then centrifuged it at 11, 000 rotations per minute for an hour and then at the bottom, lo and behold, under electron microscopy, we saw It’s basically the silicon particles. So it is the silica that is branching off IE and leaching into the periphery that is directly responsible for what is the breast implant illness. And this is where, and this is again, take home message. Not only does the implant need to be removed, but that capsule around in which. There is that silica needs to be removed and that inflamed tissue around needs to be removed such that the entire inflammatory burden is removed. It is not enough alone to remove the implant and expect the patient to bounce back. And we know this for two reasons. Number one, there are many patients who had. Partial removal of the capsule or just removal of the implant with the capsule left behind. They did not bounce back and they continue to feel the same hurt of the many breast implant illness till they went in and then the residual capsule was removed and these patients bounce back and we also know from the pathology and we have enough anecdotal patients. As you will see on social media that will attach to the scene that the entire implant capsule and all that inflamed tissue must be absolutely sincerely removed.

James Egidio: 24:44

It sounds like from what you’re saying, then is that it’s a auto immune response is what’s happening. So the body’s responding in this massive way with this auto immune response and responding to the. To this foreign body, which, of course, is the implant and then that’s does that happen when there’s an actual rupture? Or does that happen after an amount of time without a rupture? But with the implant in the body?

Dr. Shaher Khan: 25:13

Excellent question. So it starts literally from day one. So initially, when the implant is new and intact, some patients react very aggressively. Some minimal now over time as you will hear the patients themselves, and I say this to you. Don’t listen to me. Listen to the many patients. They report for the first 5 years, 7 years, 10 years, everything was great. All of a sudden, now I have this capsular contraction, now pain, or it just doesn’t feel like, everything just has gone downhill. Now sometimes they may be premenopausal, around perimenopause, and they might say, I’m just getting older, or I had COVID for example, now anything and everything is you know up in the air, meaning we’re not sure. But this is very true. This is all a phenomenon where the immune system of the body recognizes the implant as foreign and essentially goes on overdrive and goes haywire and now overreacts and this is what is the breast implant illness. Now, this occurs. Where after a period of time and again, going back to the first point that the FDA highlighted, they’re not meant to be in the body forever. Now you can imagine from day one, it starts leaching and the patients start reacting and you will hear the many patients that will say, I was never the same after I got the implants. Now, three years, five years later, when there is more of this breaking down phenomenon that ultimately leads to a rupture and now all of a sudden, the ruptured implant has a lot more reactivity because it’s loose, it’s not bound and there’s a rupture and there is more of a propensity for that silicone to leach into the periphery and so the body reacts more and now, a very classic example, a lady came to me from Nevada and she said, I got my implants in the 80s. And I said guess what? You lived through 1992. Back then you could there was a massive class action lawsuit. You could literally get your implants removed and they would cover. And it basically was a recognized entity. Whoever needed to get the surgery done was essentially covered. That was part of the lawsuit, meaning they had relief. See, she even signed a waiver that I don’t want to because I look so good. Now, all of a sudden, she comes to me and she says, I have a lot of pain, I don’t care how I look, I want you to get them out because, and lo and behold, she had a rupture. And the point I’m trying to make here is, this is again going back to the FDA’s first point, they’re not meant to be in the body forever, and they start when they do rupture. The reactivity is much more intense than when the implant is relatively newer If you will see the shell and the wall of the implant It will start breaking down and leaking more and more with higher intensity if you will. Yeah

James Egidio: 28:01

That was one of my questions too because I do remember the class action lawsuit where the attorneys were jumping on the bandwagon in this class action lawsuit to Form an alliance with plastic surgeons to do the X plants and that seemed to me to be the only incentive back then for women to have the the breast implant removed. I guess what it sounds like you’re saying now in 2023 fast forward that it’s the symptoms that someone is presented with these implants through education and being informed of the dangers of these implants, correct?

Dr. Shaher Khan: 28:51

That is correct. So this is what I tell my patients is this, you could be young. So I have operated on a 75 year old patient. Again, these are Facebook lives that I’ve done directly from my operating room. These are patients that I’ve interviewed. And. They’re the 75 year old patients. For example, the 69 or their own family was questioning like mommy or a great grandma. Of course, you’re old. You have to have some element of dementia and she’s I know my body. I know I’m always tired. This is just not me. And she took it upon herself that she got one of her third sons who agreed with her that she was going to come with him in order to get the surgery, for example, from Tennessee. The point I’m trying to make here is the patient is no deep down within. It was the implants. Now, there is no imaging test. There is no lab test that will say that you do. It is essentially a diagnosis of exclusion. Now, when I talk to the patients and I screen all of them, I want to make sure that they have a normal thyroid because if you have a low thyroid, you will lose here, you will be fatigued, you will have joint pain, swelling, weight gain, mental slowness, fatigue, all of these problems that mimic. Now, Lyme disease, MS lupus rheumatoid arthritis. Now, yes, the patients can present. Now, let’s say someone has lupus. I don’t say to them you’re going to the lupus is your symptoms. I say to them, the implants are certainly part of the problem. How much? I cannot tell. Do I guarantee 100%? All what I guarantee here is that 100 percent of the capsule is removed, plus that implant, plus all of the inflamed tissue. And once it’s removed, it’s tested for BILCL, CD30 analysis, rule of the pathology, breast cancer, among others. And then you will see the many patients, literally 95 percent or more, they seek benefit from explantation, better health, mental clarity, joint pain. And don’t listen to me, listen to all my patients. And when they get their surgery done right, you will see one after another. And there’s two classes of patients. They say they wish they had never gotten implants. And number two, they wish they had removed them sooner so they would have gotten their life back sooner.

James Egidio: 31:05

Sure. You mentioned, and I listened to another one of your interviews where you were talking about the qualities that a patient needs to look into when hiring a surgeon to do an explan surgery and do an adequate job. What are some of those qualities that someone needs to look at in a surgeon when it comes to having an explant

Dr. Shaher Khan: 31:32

very good question. So the first and foremost thing is your surgeon has to openly accept that breast implant illness exists because if you’re not going to accept the diagnosis, then you’re never going to treat it. So now the other half after your surgeon has accepted it is that your surgeon is capable of doing the surgery because I will tell you as an explant surgeon Who does these exclusively the hardest part of the surgery is in the vast majority of the patients that implant is sitting below the pectoralis major muscle directly on top of the rib. So the hardest part of the surgery is to remove that capsule, plus that implant, plus all of that inflamed tissue underneath the pec major muscle. And now remember, in a normal human being, underneath the pec major muscle, there is really nothing other than pec minor and the ribs. So all of that inflamed tissue is removed. Now, when I do the surgery, I remove that capsule by removing the fascia of the periosteum and the perichondrium, which is the layer directly on top of the rib. And I removed the fascia of the pectoralis minor, the fascia of the serratus anterior muscle. And the fascia of the intercostal muscle because that fully essentially removes that whole capsule. So that is a very tough surgery. So many surgeons will be, I use the word, not comfortable, not confident, and lack of a better word, afraid of doing the surgery because you’re right in the proximity of the lung, which is sits right underneath the rib, underneath the intercostal. And one can easily, I use the word, if they’re not confident, get into a pneumothorax. So you will see that many surgeons Who will remove the capsule on the upper part of implant, but leave the 10, 15, 20 percent of that capsule on top of the rib and that in itself. That capsule will be enough to impart that many silicon toxicities among others. So going back to the point, your surgeon, if he believes in breast implant illness, cannot and should not be putting in the implants. Because in 2023, after all what we discussed, These implants are not safe. They’re the same set of problems. They’re supposed to be the cohesive gel or the gummy bear implants, which are safer. No, they’re not the same set of problems. Yes, they have the cohesiveness, but they leach and break and the same limited lifespan that they have some sooner, some later. And I, if I’m a young lady and I am, let’s say 22 or in the patient comes to me, she’s a 22 college student, 22 year old. And if they’re 10 to 15 years and she lives up to 80, in her lifetime, is she going to get six replacements, let alone all the other problems like infection, breast cancer and malpositioning, capsular contracture, not able to do a self monthly breast exam, plus maybe a premature rupture, right? Plus the breast implant illness problems. So the point here is, it’s essentially, your surgeon has to, number one, ideally not be doing your not be doing implants. Number two, he should be very transparent. Where he has to openly discuss on social media, the implants are bad, and this is, I’m going to remove the entire implant capsule, and this is part of that consent form, where the surgeon and the patient has that medical legal bond, that the goal of the surgery is to remove the entire implant capsule and that inflamed tissue sincerely, because that is what is Going to relieve the patient. The patient should have must have the peace of mind when let’s say the surgery was done today when she puts her head on the pillow, she sleeps comfortably with that peace of mind that the entire capsule was removed, and that there is no second guessing the surgeon. The surgeon must also give a high definition video and pictures like I do to all my patients and they do ask so that they can see clearly their own chest and that the entire capsule was completely definitively sincerely removed. And the most important thing if you ask me, each one of these is supremely important. Your one surgeons patients, the previous patients should be actively discussing mentioning on social media or he did a great job. I feel great. He’s answering my questions and he was able to prove to me that the length of the incision was the diameter of the implant. Some surgeons. Say my incision was three centimeters and I removed like a 600 cc implant. That is virtually impossible because you cannot remove the whole capsule. Another patient I talked to, she had her surgery done in Columbia. Her surgery was done in an hour and a half, and I say that is impossible. And plus, there is no clear documentation that basically the the entire capsule was removed. Even though there is operative node that mentions that. the entire capsule was removed, but there is no evidence. So all of these point towards what is an explant must be done right, sincerely, definitively. It’s like when you, and I used the example before a long time ago, you go to war, for example, you have to do it from your heart, like you mean it, like you. The patient really depends on it, not I’m going to try or let’s see what I find or the capsule. So then I left it behind. No, you need to have the conviction that belief, that firmness, that the entire capsule must absolutely sincerely be removed because that’s what’s going to relieve the patient.

James Egidio: 36:55

Yeah. Yeah. Cause I haven’t heard you mentioned that you take, I believe it’s a Wednesday to do two procedures and they’re a minimum of five hours a piece.

Dr. Shaher Khan: 37:05

So I booked my patients for four hours on average. So yesterday, for example I did two cases. The first case was a breast cancer patient. She had alloderm, which is cadaveric skin. She had a relatively large implant, 500 cc’s, and a mastectomy patient is always more involved than a cosmetic patient. So those I booked for five hours and I always do two of those cases. The second person was from Hawaii. She had a patient, a set of implants, 310 cc’s above the muscle ceiling, very easy. Easy in a sense compared to the mastectomy. So I was done in approximately three and a half hours. So as you can see now, only when I do go in and do the surgery, do I then realize that intensity and the extent of the surgery as to what it is going to be a lady, for example, who is in her sixties with a high BMI with small implants above the muscle is going to be the best case scenario. Another lady who has a radiated chest mastectomy patient below the muscle with alloderm. And super thin claps is going to be my hardest patient.

James Egidio: 38:19

Yeah. Yeah. And I have another question. What, how, why hasn’t the FDA put pressure on the breast implant manufacturers to recall these devices? Cause that’s what they are medical devices, correct?

Dr. Shaher Khan: 38:33

Yes, sir. No, these The FDA has a section of implants, and I will tell you, if you think about it now, the FDA is, it has mind of its own and it has a technical issues of its own. Now, if you look at in the world of the FDA and the world of breast implants, when they bend textured implants, that was a big slap in the face, if you will, of these. manufacturers. Number two, the FDA warning, the black box war and the black box warning that in itself was huge. Look, there’s the FDA telling you they’re not meant to be in the body forever. Some people have died from lymphoma. It is underreported and BILCL is directly related to textured implants and also other smooth. To a lesser extent, we do not know what the numbers and number three, the point that I highlighted earlier that patients who report confusion, joint pain and GI issues amongst the many others report, quote, complete resolution now. This in itself was a big scare, and then they said you have to, as a plastic surgeon, you have to discuss with your prospective patients that these are the risks that you actively discuss, and there has to be initials. Now, unfortunately, if I bring a fifth grader, and I can say this very bluntly, and I tell them, Here’s slime, and I showed them some of the videos where I’ve removed ruptured implants, or I reported them that many patients that have had the symptoms of breast implants, I will tell you, they will not even for a second even think about getting breast implants. And this is basically very, I use the word amusing and shocking, but not surprising. Look, to date, the billions of dollars with the narcotic industry with narcos and Vicodin abuse, What was done about it, really, very passively. Really, if you ask me, it was the slowest response anyone can have. And I’ll tell you, I’m going to use the word hundreds and thousands and millions of lives were affected. And we’re looking at billions of dollars, dual cigarettes, young 17 year old kids smoking away and puffing the vape with the chemicals, the strawberry flavor, and this flavor, and that they’re going to pay a price in their fifties and seventies, and the FDA is shockingly looking the other way. Smoking, same thing. They said you put it in a box. If you smoke, you’re responsible. And this is what they’re trying to do with the implants. We gave you the black box warning. You decided you wanted. No, the FDA needs to step up and say, just like a mom with a kid who wants to. And I’m sorry if I may use this example. You cannot do this. This is absolute and take him off the market, which is what they did in 1992. So you need to be more assertive because remember the patients are innocent. There are unfortunately the victims and all of this in this group, we have a total of four people. Number one, the manufacturers, they’re laughing themselves to the bank and they’re trying to look innocent and saying we advocate patient safety. You have the FDA very passive, trying to be politically correct, keeping everyone happy, including the plastic surgeons. Number three, you have the many other plastic surgeons and the doctors who still to this date, despite all what I have said, claim that implants are very safe. If I have a patient, 65 year old who gets breast cancer, or the young 22 year old college student who says I want breast implants, or another lady who is 40 who had implants 15 years ago, let’s say they all walk into the number one hospital system. the Cleveland Clinic, Mayo Clinic and top 100 hospitals in the country. Without a doubt that lady with implants that are 15 years old, she will be told this, remove your implants. They’re 15 years old. And this time around, we’re going to give you the, if you have seen, we’ll give you the silicone implants and the 2023 version, because that’s what you deserve. And unfortunately, to this day, this gets pushed despite all what I said. And the last but not least, the patients. If you will, they’re listening to this. Now, what’s happening here is this, where you have these four groups, the patients are overriding the FDA, they’re overriding the manufacturers, they’re overriding the plastic surgeons and the primary care doctors, and they themselves are stepping up and saying, you know what, I had a patient that came to me from San Francisco, and she went to you. a very prominent plastic surgeon. And she said, I chose to overwrite what my plastic surgeon said. And I made the decision to explain. And her husband was very much for it. And they were convinced beyond doubt that the implants were hurting. And they were able to make that medical decision. Now this is very strong. We’re now the patients are behaving as if they’re doctors. They’re meeting, making the medical decisions on their own. And this is not me, right? I’m whatever I have said about the manufacturer’s mentor and the FDA. I want the patients themselves to go to my private breast implant support group or my Facebook page and my YouTube, and look what the FDA and the manufacturers themselves have said, and you will be convinced without a doubt. No one walks into my clinic and says that. My implants are making me healthier. I can jump higher. I can think sharper, if anything, the opposite. And again, I will say this. If I was, I use the word financially smart, and if you listen to my advisors and my mentors, they will say, from a financial perspective, I would have made whatever my net income was last year, three times, four times, minus the headache. Now, remember, X points for the implementation, and you heard the docs say. 10, 15 minutes each side in one hour, 45 minutes to an hour. The augmentation is done very stress free, simple, quick surgery, explantation for hours. And I’ll tell you when I get done, I look at my assistant, my the surgical tech, they’ve turned red because that’s how hard they work the whole day without an exaggeration. You, one of my assists, he was telling me, he did a lot of Arthur cases, orthopedic cases. He said, I don’t get tired. Because even though with their bit retraction and the knees and the hip and those are the cases that he does, he said, but when I do your cases, I sweat. And I said, you bet. So from a physical perspective, being able to make a horizontal incision, this is what I do. And then being able to dissect underneath and look. And with that pinpoint accuracy where I’m removing the capsule, it’s a very tedious and grueling process. So it requires time. It requires physical capability. I’ll tell you some of my elderly colleagues, even if they wanted to do the surgery, they physically will not be able to because of the next strain. And I’m not exaggerating for me to be able to have loops on and a headlight because I have to be able to look inside. Now, sometimes I could use a lighter detractor, but I don’t like that headlight because I want to see exactly what I’m looking and that’s why I’m able to use my headlight. So it’s physically demanding. Okay. And it has to be mentally demanding and I’ll tell you absolutely when I get done I don’t want to use the word worn out, but I feel like I run a marathon, and how you feel tired and just want to sit and this is the surgery in itself. I have had a colleague, senior colleague who walked into my surgery at the hospital and he said, I could never do what you’re doing. And I said, I totally get it. Now, if you ask me, for example, to do a rhinoplasty, I’ll tell you, it’s not my cup of tea or a cleft lip. That’s not my training, but I’ll tell you for me. As a board certified plastic surgeon, I feel honored and humbled, and I use the word very Privilege to say that I’m doing something that the rest of the plastic surgery colleagues say and deny, which I will tell you and mark my words, the implants will be banned again. And history as it does always repeat itself. It will absolutely repeat itself again. Number two, you have the patient speaking in the masses. I called the F D A and I talked to Dr. Cornelius. She was the second in command for the F D A implant. And I said, you just. brought forth the squamous cell cancer that was reported in I believe 14 patients that had breast implants, a direct association of implants and squamous cell cancer. And it said, it’s good that you’re bringing this and highlighting it to the plastic surgeon. But if I were you’ve got millions of patients all over the world who are depending on you. Who are hurting from breast implant illness. I probably bring that up first, and again, I said that and they said we want to hear about the adverse events and whatnot else. And again, that same. It has to go up a chain of command. We have to hear now. The patients are talking. They’re screaming. If you look at how many Facebook groups there are for breast implant illness for every state and within the state, many subgroups, there are breast implant illness clinics that have come forth now. If you open up any journal, for example, the Cosmopolitan magazine that I was talking to you about, I was flipping through it once on a phone call. And the next thing, I saw a patient talking about breast implant illness. It was reported. So now the general news outlets are also talking about it. And there’s certainly more and more awareness. There are patients that go into the emergency room because of arrhythmias and their emergency room doctor says that this might be the implant. So they’re learning more and more. Now we need to talk more to the rheumatologist, the primary care doctors, family medicine doctors because they’re right now at the forefront receiving end of what is truly a medical crisis. Lack of a better word, it is indeed a

James Egidio: 48:23

crisis. That was one of my questions too to you is, the gatekeeper speak would be someone’s primary care doctor where the patient walks in and they’re presenting with these symptoms. And of course the history is being taken by the physician or the nurse and they’re presenting with these symptoms. I’m sure they’re being asked by the primary doctor or their internist. Do you have breast implants? That’s gotta be a common question, correct? Believe

Dr. Shaher Khan: 48:51

it or not common. They always, what is magical is this. If you ask me about EKG and read an EKG, you know what I’m going to say, James? I have no idea because I don’t read them, on a day to day basis. Now, I can make out, but I would dare not read one and make a recommendation, you follow? Because I’m not a cardiologist. There are so many primary care doctors that I talked to about breast implants because remember I get a clearance from each and every one that states that the thyroid is good, no lupus, no rheumatoid, the patient has no problems, and the patient is optimized. I asked them, have you even touched an implant? They said some of them have never even touched an implant. Really? Because remember this is not part of their training.

James Egidio: 49:36

Yeah, but that’s part of it. That’s part of a history though, right? Yeah, that’s

Dr. Shaher Khan: 49:40

part of the history So remember the general notion is implants are absolutely safe. Don’t you dare talk about implants? That’s not even in the equation and that is the sad reality. So what happens is Just so some of them did their only exposure to surgery was their six week rotation when they were in medical school, majority of the primary care family medicine doctors with all due respect, just like how many pacemakers have I touched in my life, obviously, I’ve seen, but how many have I placed, how many I physically touched, from Medtronics, just to use that as an example, how many hip implants have I touched, I’ve not been involved in that surgery, right? So I wouldn’t expect an internal medicine slash family medicine doctor to be well versed on what is breast implant illness. And this is again, where education needs to be set in. And this is a risk member, the responsibility of the board of plastic surgery by the FDA and to highlight what is a true indeed entity. Now it is. Getting more and more awareness. But remember, from the fourth group, the patients themselves are stepping up and overriding all these other docs and saying, Hey, it is indeed my implants.

James Egidio: 50:48

Sure. But it’s sad that the patient can’t even depend on their family doctor. Their intern is to say, Hey, in a own life. In a history, do you have breast implants? Because they ask you, do you smoke? Do you drink? Do you do drugs? These are all things that are on a questionnaire. Breast implant should be in there for anyone who’s ever had them done.

Dr. Shaher Khan: 51:12

Absolutely. Absolutely. Because remember, look at the manufacturers themselves, Mentor, the number one manufacturer of breast implants. They say, and again, I want everyone, if you go to my Facebook page, you will see that advertisement itself. You will hear directly from Mentor. At year three, And of the augmentation, then every two years they’re onward looking, you’re looking for a silent rupture. Now, why are they even doing this or making the recommendation? Because when you have a rupture, you got problems, right? Silicon granuloma, silicon toxicity, all these problems of breast implant illness. And guess what? That means you need to get them out. Otherwise, why even get an MRI, right? Now, guess what? There are some plastic surgeons who say, I’m not making this up or you got a ruptured implant. Don’t worry about it. You’ll be okay live happily ever after now Beat that and i’ll tell you that is a problem. Otherwise, why would mentor now? This is where the manufacturers the mentor and allergen and cntr They’re all protecting themselves by saying did you do this and I will tell you no one gets these mris simply because it’s non practical insurance doesn’t cover them insurance says you got implants You for those patients who did not have cancer. This was elective and it’s all on your own because that’s a problem That’s a you problem that you created this problem. You basically deal with it If I get a facelift and if I have a problem I go to the emergency room the insurance is going to say who told you to get a facelift. That’s all on you Yeah, unfortunately, that’s what they’re saying. Now. You would think after the textured implants were banned the fda Told the manufacturer allergen Tell all the patients who have these textured implants that they are associated with lymphoma now Did they say go get them out? They said no this heavily ever after till if you have problems You need to be aware that they’ve been banned and they’re associated with lymphoma But there was no recall or no recommendation that you remove it unless there was problems And so this is the problem in itself because how can you tell someone’s are banned? But at the same time it’s okay to have them unless you have problems and remember over time You It’s like a ticking time bomb. You could be happy one day. Literally, next week you could be ruptured. This has happened in my practice with someone with the gummy bear implant. At year four, three and a half, she had a ruptured implant and this is the soonest that I’ve seen. And remember, according to the guidelines, she should have had an MRI at year three, and then at year five. And majority of these ruptures are silent, which means that the rupture is there, the exam’s unremarkable, and only an MRI would pick up on it.

James Egidio: 53:49

Yeah. So where can the listener and viewers of the Medical Truth Podcast find

Dr. Shaher Khan: 53:55

you? So what I want my listeners to do is don’t make any decisions. You go on what is a listening interactive. Discussions with previous patients who have explanted because remember that’s your best source. Talk to your plastic surgeon directly. Do not talk to the PA nurse practitioner or the office manager and get information from them. You need to talk to the MDA directly, the MD. that the empty specifically the plastic surgeon and have a full discussion one on one as to what is the goal of the surgery. Do you believe in breast implant? Unless how many of these have you done? Do you have pictures, videos? Do you have a track record? Can you talk to your previous patients? And ideally, the surgeon should be and must be very transparent. One of my very close plastic surgeon friends. Who’s in the Philly area said to me Con, what you’re doing is pretty dangerous. And it’s tell me about it. I like your thinking out and you’re my relisher. And he said you’re talking about a topic that’s controversial and you’re doing videos directly live from your operating room. I said thank you so much. Number one, I am transparent with exactly what I’m doing. I am removing the entire implant, which anyone does, and I’m removing the whole capsule. And that’s all what I’m doing. And that inflates tissue around. And I’m sending the capsule off to pathology. I take cultures for aerobic, anaerobic, and fungal, send them to microbiology. I’m returning the implants to the patient. And I’m essentially ensuring removal of the whole capsule, which is the take a message. Now remember if someone has a lymphoma, the textbook answer is what? Remove the implant and the whole capsule. If the capsule is left behind, the cancer is left behind. Remember the FDA said and all plastic surgeons will 100 percent agree on this fact. That BILCL is underreported and so the capsule must be sent completely entirely and you do not want to leave the capsule behind because again, two facts in those patients where the capsule was left behind, the patients did not bounce back and only when the residual capsules were removed by another surgeon, then only the patient did benefit. And you can see from the pathology reports that bad pathology that was present within the capsule itself. And this is all coming from the patients. Going back to my friend, I said, I’m removing the implant capsule, and I’m doing it, and I’m showing it, and the patients are very happy. Look at my patients, all of them, you hear from them. Go to my private breast implant support group, and I said, if anything, you need to be more recognized, and he said you got me. I’m not doing anything exaggerated. I’m doing exactly what, where I’m removing the whole capsule because that’s the surgery in itself. Anyone can remove the implant, but it’s all about that capsule and that inflamed tissue and getting it tested. Now, one thing I may mention, James, I have done so many of these and patient after patient, I’ve mentioned this many times, 20 years from now, I cannot imagine anyone else doing the surgery any better, which is the con procedure. And as you will see, the one is. I’m not doing a lift because that is an aesthetic operation. You don’t want to be doing two, three, four more hours of aesthetic surgery on top of already what is a four hour commitment. Number two, the drains. I’ve done literally over thousands of patients without the need for drain. And so the last time I used the drain was four years ago, even in the many patients. who have had ruptured implants. Now, remember, patients ask me, how come you don’t use drains? I say the burdens on the other surgeons who use drains because once the implant ruptures and the silicon spills under the chest, Then you have to place a drain. If the capsule is left behind, you will see the drain has to be left behind. So the fact that I don’t use the drain is in itself proof that I got all the badness out. Number three the, I do twilight sedation, which is I don’t paralyze the body and just like the breathing machine and the ventilator breathing. That’s. That’s still safe, but I do what is Twilight. The patient breathes on her own and it’s very comfortable, effective, safe anesthesia. Number four, I returned implants to the patient, absolutely making sure I had interrupted the salient implants or what the implants were more than. 25 percent of the time, I’ll tell you, the implants are wrong size, wrong lot number, one is a mentor, the other one is allergen, for example, one is saline, this happened when one was silicone, one was above the muscle, one was below, so a lot of variation. Number five, I take pictures, high definition, where I. To a video of the chest wall showing complete removal of the entire implant capsule plus pictures and cutting open of the capsules because remember, that’s the ultimate proof, right? And number six I sent cultures for aerobic, anaerobic, that is bacterial infection and fungus. And number seven. I send the capsules off always to pathology to rule out lymphoma, rule out malignancy. Now the patient has peace of mind. There is no cancer. And number eight, all patients, regardless of age, get the same surgery. So next week I’m doing a lady with a history of stroke. on a boat thinner, but at the hospital, because that’s the right setting. And then the lady with open heart surgery, another lady with the carotid that was a block. So she needs to be done at the hospital because that is where she belongs. Not at my private breast surgery center. And so I tell my patients, do your homework. Do not rush into the surgery. You want to be very well versed. You want to be content from your heart that you have chosen your right surgeon. You want to understand this topic. Most of my patients that come to me, if you just follow me on YouTube. And on Facebook, I assure you with confidence initially you might be a little bit Puzzled slash overwhelmed after a few hours of listening two minutes there 20 minutes there one hour there This is an excellent introduction and thank you very much You know for coming forth and raising awareness because remember this is the medical truth. I’m not making any of this up I will tell you I have Full disclosure, nothing to gain from this except for my patient’s good health and not only her good health, but her husband, her significant other, her kids, our friends, her family, her productivity. No one should have to suffer. Remember, this is the book that I’m writing. Do no harm. That’s the oath that We talk, we don’t want to harm our patients. Yes. There might be a quote, a honeymoon period or benefit where the patients enjoy quote the implants, but that is very short lived. Eventually all patients will suck up and you don’t want to be that patient where the rupture in front of curse. And now you’re dealing with badness, literally and pain and all these other irregularities that occur as a direct result of the implants.

James Egidio: 1:00:48

Yeah. And your website is. It’s www. executiveplasticsurgeon. com. Yes, please. And of course I’ve been flashing that on the screen here the whole time as well as the phone number. So they can reach you through Facebook. They can reach you through your website. Also as far as the podcast will be rebroadcasted on Rumble. For people that are listening, you can go to my Rumble channel. As well, and also on substack. I’m also located on substack, but Dr Khan, I really appreciate your time. And this informative episode on X plants.

Dr. Shaher Khan: 1:01:26

Thank you. Thank you. And I appreciate it. Thanks for the opportunity. I will tell you this when we started, there’s a lot we talked about, sometimes when I, so I’m doing like a. In November, mid November, I’m doing like an educational seminar. I’ll actually have videos and pictures up and I will do a lecture and my patients will come. I want, if you want, and I will give and put this up as a challenge for you. If you want, you can get five. Or six. We can read. We can do another one of these where you can actually patients on as guests, and we can just do a question answer session, and I will go ahead and have, sample papers projections that I myself as a board certified plastic surgeon can highlight and say, This is what I believe. And I will tell you that will be very educational for them. Yeah. And when is that

James Egidio: 1:02:16

in November?

Dr. Shaher Khan: 1:02:17

So this is going to be in mid November. We have advertised this on the Facebook page as well. And I actually do not remember. Is it November 14th or November 16th? It’s at the hospital itself in one of the conference rooms. We’ll have dinner. And I want the patients to physically come. I will be taking questions from the audience and I’ll be taking questions also online. And hopefully. There’s some limitations that I have because I cannot show videos and pictures as to why I do and in the manner that I do so and I presented. So I’m going to present my 1000 explants that I presented in Dubai in May of this year to the world’s largest congress of plastic surgeons. I will have exactly verbatim that same presentation that I will present so that other surgeons can find useful. Certainly the patients will find useful and the other primary care doctors, hopefully the family medicine, internal medicine, emergency medicine doctors will find useful and hopefully this will be another avenue where I can share with them what I know about breast implants, which is only the bad and the ugly. And there is nothing good.

James Egidio: 1:03:23

Okay. That sounds good. And I again, thank you so much for coming on to the medical truth podcast. You have a wonderful day.

Dr. Shaher Khan: 1:03:31

Thank you. Thank you very much. It was a pleasure to be on. Thank you.

Outro: 1:03:36

Thanks for listening to the Medical Truth Podcast. For the latest episodes, go to www. medicaltruthpodcast. com. You can also find the Medical Truth Podcast on Rumble, as well as all the major podcast platforms like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and iHeart.