Breast Implant Illness with Robert Whitfield MD (#231)

Dr. Berkson's Best Health Radio Podcast

Breast implants are a very popular surgery, especially for re-construction after breast cancer. Dr. Whitfield is an experienced, Board Certified Plastic Surgeon who specializes in oncologic breast reconstruction.

But he was also the doctor to discover that some cases of autoimmunity, chronic fatigue, cognitive decline… start in contaminated breast implants!

Dr. Whitfiled completed six years of surgical training at Indiana University Medical Center. Then a Plastic Surgery Residency. And then a Fellowship in Microsurgery and Aesthetic under Dr. William Zamboni.

Dr. Whitfield began to have patients that were experiencing systemic illness, and when he removed their implants, called an “explant” procedure, he found identifiable pathogens in the tissue capsule. Treating these infections got rid of many of these systemic problems, such as chronic fatigue.

This lead Dr. Whitfield to start to add more services for his clients, including nutritional and nutraceutical advice as well as personal genetic predisposition screening.

Dr. Whitfield has completed over 4000 breast procedures since 2004 including over 500 implant removals.

He has the largest series of explant specimens with PCR testing. This tests the genetic sequences of pathogens, so is a highly sensitive test to identify “stealth” infections and find their appropriate medications to eradicate them.

While serving as the President Elect of the Research Foundation Dr. Whitfiled also gave testimony at the FDA hearings in 2019 regarding Breast Implant iIlness (BII).