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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Neocon who wrote (121352)	1/8/2001 6:29:54 PM
From: Kenneth E. Phillipps	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769667

Thought you would enjoy this from Ottawa: Quebec taxpayers get the bill for girl's implants Her mental health cited Catherine Solyom The Gazette, with files from Associated Press. MONTREAL - Quebec taxpayers will pay for a 15-year-old's breast implants after the girl's psychiatrist deemed them necessary for her mental health. The provincial health-insurance board originally denied the parents' request for reimbursement because the surgery -- done in a private clinic, at an estimated cost of $5,000 -- was considered purely cosmetic. The board changed its mind, however, when the parents appealed and presented a note from their daughter's psychiatrist saying the surgery was a necessity. The parents were then compensated for the cost of the procedure. Because of privacy concerns, the girl's identity has not been released. The case sets a dangerous precedent, said Dr. Louise Duranceau, president of the Quebec Plastic Surgeons' Association. "It opens the door for people to shamelessly exploit the situation," she said. Girls are legally allowed to undergo the procedure on their own at age 16, even earlier with parental consent, but Dr. Duranceau recommended girls wait until they are 18 before making a decision. In Britain, the parents of a 15-year-old girl have rescinded their daughter's controversial birthday gift of breast implants. Jenna Franklin, of Nottinghamshire, England, had said she believed bigger breasts were necessary to be successful since television celebrities have implants. She was to get an enlargement for her 16th birthday in August. Dr. Anthony Erian, the surgeon asked to perform the operation, however, told the BBC he thought Jenna should wait for her breasts to develop fully before undergoing the procedure. Amid the controversy arising from the case, Jenna's mother, Kay Franklin, decided on Friday to wait until Jenna's 18th birthday before giving her breast implant gift, if she still wants them. Manon Doyer, who headed the Quebec class-action suit against Dow Corning in 1994, after her silicone breast implants ruptured, was surprised by the province's decision. "They have a hard time paying for people who are really sick and really can't pay for their medicine, and now they're paying for a 15-year-old's implants? It makes no sense at all."