Silicone in breast implants are bulletproof

Question

"Doctors noted that the silicone implant was likely responsible for deflecting the bullet’s trajectory – ultimately saving the woman’s life."

- CNN

Comments

The claim references an instance in where a woman was shot and fortunately survived due to the silicone breast implants in her chest. While there is truth in the fact that the woman was able to survive due to her silicone breast implants, it is not safe to state that silicone breast implants are bulletproof, as the claim can be very misleading due to the fact that silicone itself is not bulletproof.

In a study published by the National Library of Medicine, it is stated that "The impact of a gunshot is tied to a bullet's path and placement within the body.12 The extent of the resulting trauma is influenced by multiple factors, one of which being the physical characteristics of the tissue that has been penetrated.12 Thus, if there is some sort of barrier (eg, bone or implant) to slow or deflect a bullet, it may serve as a protective factor." This means that while the bullet was affected by the silicone and different parts of the patients body, the silicone itself within the breast implant is not bulletproof

In a YouTube video posted by TAOFLEDERMAUS, a test is conducted where different  rounds of bullet are shot at a standard silicone breast.  in the video we can see that silicone breast implants do affect that trajectory and impact, it is negligible at best so they are in fact NOT bulletproof,


sources
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9949879/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjHn3RPdGIg

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The claim that "silicone in breast implants are bulletproof" is misleading and not entirely true. The link to the article is from CNN, and the actual headline for that article is "Woman’s breast implant deflects bullet, saving her life".
So, technically, the woman's breast implant caught the bullet and saved her life. proving that silicone in breast implants is bulletproof isn't true because it happened by chance that the woman's breast implant caught the bullet and prevented further injuries. The article says that SAGE medical journal published a study that said the breast implant deflected the bullet away from the 30 year old woman's vital organs. It is important to note that SAGE has received funding from the FACS board of plastic surgeons. The rest of the article mainly talks about the medical technicalities. Along with how the woman's other injuries and how she's doing. All in all, people shouldn't think that getting and having silicone in breast implants will protect you from bullets.

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I completely agree; saying silicone implants are ‘bulletproof’ is a huge stretch. The original article makes it sound like they function like body armor when they might slow a bullet slightly in rare cases. The experiment by Dr. Adams is a great example—it shows that implants reduce penetration depth but don’t stop bullets. It’s wild how often headlines twist scientific findings into something dramatic. Did you find any cases where an implant prevented serious injury, or is it mostly just altering trajectory?

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The statement that “silicone breast implants are bulletproof” is incorrect and misleading. While there is one unusual case where an implant may have altered the trajectory of a bullet, this does not mean that breast implants are a reliable form of protection. As Dr. Adams points out, while implants might offer a very minor level of protection in rare scenarios, they are not designed to stop bullets or prevent serious injury.
Dr. Adams' Blog discussing the effects of breast implants on bullet penetration: Can a breast implant stop a bullet?
CNN Article covering the case where an implant may have deflected a bullet: CNN Article on Implants and Bullet Deflection

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Your claim is interesting, but I think the wording might be a bit misleading. The CNN article states that the silicone implant *deflected* the bullet, not that it made the woman completely bulletproof. There's a big difference between an implant altering a bullet’s trajectory and it actually stopping a bullet like a Kevlar vest would. Did you come across any additional studies or expert opinions on how silicone behaves under gunfire? It would be helpful to see whether this was a rare case or if silicone implants have a consistent ability to redirect bullets.

Answer 1

This is false. If you actually read the article they use to back up their claim CNN never claims that breast implants are bulletproof however, the article as well as the SAGE medical journal says, “The implant caused the change in the trajectory of the bullet" missing her vital organs but still hitting her ribs, leaving her with broken ribs and broken implants. According to the National Library of Medicine, the implants can change the trajectory as well as cause a decrease in penetration of the bullet. So, while silicone implants add an extra layer of protection they are not bullet proof. 

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2513826X19898821 

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/21/americas/breast-implant-bullet-wound-wellness-intl-scli/index.html 

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9949879/ 

Answer 2

This claim is exaggerated and misleading. The CNN article does not say that breast implants are bulletproof. The article does say, “The implant caused the change in the trajectory of the bullet,” - surgeon McEvenue. Breast implants are not reliable enough to be considered fully bulletproof. The implant helped to save the women but other factors are not mentioned which decreases the reliability of this claim. Breast implants might decrease the impact but they should not be considered bulletproof. A breast implant surgeon reported on this idea and claimed that in most cases a breast implant will not be enough to save a life. 

Answer 3

To determine the truth or falsehood behind the claim, "silicone in breast implants are bulletproof" I first referenced the primary source article linked with the original claim, a 2020 CNN article titled, "Woman's breast implant deflects bullet, saving her life" by Amy Woodyatt. Prior to reading the article in its entirety, I looked into Woodyatt's background and was able to find her website with a brief autobiographical description on the "About" page. Given her, as described, experience, "[working] as a journalist, producer and fixer for clients including CNN, The New York Times, The Red Bulletin and Foreign Policy" (Woodyatt), I feel fairly comfortable that Woodyatt would have no underlying motivations to report on this story - presented in the primary source - with any form of bias. She also includes multiple direct quotations from the surgeon who completed the woman's operation, Dr. Ginacarlo McEvenue who states that, "...[one] of only a handful of instances recorded in medical literature where a breast implant played a role in saving a patient's life, and the first recorded instance of a silicone implant doing so..." (McEvenue, 2020). 

In the article, Woodyatt makes a direct reference to a case study in SAGE Medical Journal, where "...doctors described how a silicone breast implant deflected a bullet away from a 30-year-old woman's vital organs" (Woodyatt, 2020). By clicking on the provided embedded link in the CNN article, I was able to confirm that the entry was in fact included in the Plastic Surgery Case Studies section of SAGE Medical Journal. However, their description of the event uses a slight change in word I feel is crucial to emphasize, "[here], we report of a 30-year-old female patient with ballistic injury to bilateral breast implants, where the silicone implant was likely responsible for deflecting the bullets trajectory..." (SAGE Medical Journal, 2020). 

I then took to Google and after typing in "silicone breast implants are bullet proof" I was able to find a National Institute of Health (NIH) article that addressed the same story, titled "Breast Implants Save Lives: Gunshot Wound to Silicone Gel Implant". The authors explain that concept of how a bullet travels upon being ejected from the barrel of a gun and entering the victim's body, specifically the factors at play that determine its final destination. The article states that, "[the] extent of resulting trauma is influenced by multiple factors, one of which being the physical characteristics of the tissue that has been penetrated. Thus, if there is some sort of barrier ... to slow or deflect a bullet, it may serve as a protective factor" (NIH, 2023).

Therefore, I feel confident in confirming that silicone breast implants have the potential to save lives given their ability to divert a bullet and potentially avoid fatality. However, the claim that "silicone in breast implants are bulletproof" suggests that they will always save a gunshot victim's life, which simply hasn't been proven, and leads me to mark this claim as exaggerated/misleading. 

Answer 4

The claim that silicone breast implants are “bulletproof” would be an improper and false claim to make; the CNN article claims that a woman’s life was saved due to her breast implants, however, it would be more accurate to say that the breast implants were a coincidental act of luck contributing to the outcome of the woman's life. According to Dr. Shahram Salemy, a registered surgeon from Seattle, breast implants are built to resist leakage, deflating and ruptures however they are not indestructible¹. In addition to the false claim that breast implants are bulletproof, assuming that they would be able to save one's life would be incorrect. Taking into consideration the fact that implants are not indestructible, it is important to acknowledge that a bullet or other force of potential damage could cause more complications in the event that the implant were to burst. If an implant bursts, “The contents can escape and cause inflammation, among other things. If the worst comes to the worst, a destroyed breast implant can apparently make it necessary to remove the breast (mastectomy).”² Overall the claim that implants are bulletproof is false, although the story reported by CNN correctly discloses the events of the accident, it would be incorrect to assume that the implants are solely responsible for the result of the accident. 

 

Sources: 

Source 1: https://www.plasticsurgery.org/news/blog/how-strong-and-resilient-are-breast-implants

Source 2: https://www.k-online.com/ 

Answer 5

The claim that breast implants are bulletproof is false. Upon review of the CNN article that is cited in the claim the article never directly makes the claim that breast implants are bullet proof. This stretch of the original article's claim is an immediate red flag in the legitimacy of this claim. While the breast implants are not bulletproof, there have been several cases of breast implants affecting the trajectory of bullets according to an ePlasty journal article published by the National Institutes of Health. This same study also claims that there is a "20.6% decrease in penetration compared with that seen with no implant.".

Citations:

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9949879/

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/21/americas/breast-implant-bullet-wound-wellness-intl-scli/index.html

Answer 6

I think the title is misleading when it says breast implants are bulletproof. Yes, they do stop the impact of a gunshot according to Dr. Christopher Pannucci and his experiment, but that does not mean they are bulletproof. 

https://www.dr-adams.com/blog/can-a-breast-implant-stop-a-bullet/

Answer 7

During my research I learned that silicone breast implants are in fact not bulletproof. The article provided by CNN never directly claims that they are. In the story that they used, they talked about how the trajectory of the bullet was altered, causing no impact to her vital organs. However, as I continue my research, I realize there have been multiple instances of silicone breast implants, saving women’s lives, but there is no guarantee that this will stop a bullet path completely. 

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9949879/

Answer 8

This claim is outrageous and completely wrong! Even in the article that the author linked the implant was never mentioned as bulletproof instead it detailed a miracle situation where the implant changed the trajectory of the bullet away from the vital organs and instead into the ribs of the victim. This is a claim that is just trying to get clicks on the site. In my own research I found a website that was in response to this instance where they expressly stated implants are not bulletproof they can at most change the trajectory of the bullet and potentially move it away from the vital organs. I even took my research a step farther when I looked up a YouTube video that had a gun shooting through an implant to further disprove this claim. As you can see, this statement is just clickbait and not a claim rooted in substance. 

Articles and video: https://www.dr-adams.com/blog/can-a-breast-implant-stop-a-bullet/

Are silicone breast implants bulletproof? No, the news lied to ...YouTubehttps://www.youtube.com · TAOFLEDERMAUS

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/21/americas/breast-implant-bullet-wound-wellness-intl-scli/index.html

Answer 9

This claim that silicone breast implants are bulletproof is false. This claim came from the CNN article “Woman’s breast implant deflects bullet, saving her life”. In the article from CNN, they never claim that silicone breast implants are bulletproof, but they do suggest that the implant played a role in redirecting the bullet's trajectory away from vital organs, which helped save the woman’s life. The claim that the implant is “bulletproof” is wrongly used because the bullet did penetrate the implant, which goes against the definition of bulletproof according to Merriam-Webster.

Answer 10

Silicone breast implants have not been proven to be bulletproof. There have been multiple instances where breast implants have played a significant role in saving lives from gunshots; however, CNN’s article “Woman’s breast implant deflects bullet, saving her life” has truth to what occurred but is a situational argument with situational facts , not general proven facts. CNN’s article discusses this incident as if the implants were bulletproof without explicitly stating it; however, CNN and other articles have yet to make a valid claim arguing that they are bulletproof. There is a fine line between something that will protect your life and something that might. Have done research on this topic and looking at multiple article I can confidently say this claim is false.

https://abc7.com/breast-implants-stop-bullet-silicone-save-womans-life/6120472/