It's easy to lose a card. You could lose it while moving or if you're wallet is stolen. We recommend that people keep it with them in the event of something like an accident. But a document can never replace a registry.
A card can be useful for situations where a file might be destroyed after five years, as is the case in Quebec. The only physical evidence left about the implants is the card. However, a registry would solve all problems pertaining to the card, registration problems, and the destruction of medical records after a certain number of years. The time period before records can be disposed of varies greatly from one province to another. It mustn't be forgotten that when there are breast implants, as I mentioned earlier, if any complications arise that are not postoperative, you don't return to see the surgeon.
Unless there are mechanical complications, women rarely return to see their plastic surgeon. Indeed, five, six or even 10 years might go by. In Quebec, if plastic surgeons have not seen their patients again after five and a half or six years, the files are destroyed. That means there is no more tangible trace of the implant unless the person remembers the manufacturer's name. In such instances, they can call the manufacturer and asked them to find their file. The problem is that patients do not always remember who the manufacturer was. They can often remember whether the implants were saline or silicone, but most of the time they don't remember the external texture or the manufacturer.