Oops: Tens of thousands of breast implants might be harmful to women

Wednesday, August 25, 2010 by: David Gutierrez, staff writer
Tags: breast implants, danger, health news

(NaturalNews) French and British regulators have issued a recall of all breast implants manufactured by the company Poly Implant Prothese (PIP).

"Clinicians should not implant these devices and they should quarantine any stock," said Susanne Ludgate of the U.K.'s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency.

"Patients who have concerns about their PIP silicone gel filled breast implants should contact their breast implant surgeon. Once we receive further information about the safety of these products, we will provide further advice on patient management, as necessary."

The implants have been used in as many as 40,000 women in the United Kingdom alone. According to information on PIP's web site, the company exports its products to a total of 66 countries.

The recall was sparked by the French health regulatory agency's discovery that PIP had been making breast implants with unauthorized silicone gel -- of a different type than it had reported to the government -- for nearly 10 years. The implants are nearly twice as likely to rupture, requiring surgical removal, as legitimately manufactured products.

Other than the higher risk of rupture, the French government said, the PIP implants do not pose a risk of any different complications than those made by other companies.

PIP's name was already tarnished before the French government shut it down.

"Mainstream surgeons working in Britain have avoided PIP products because they have a high rupture rate and there have been concerns over the last couple of years about the company," said Douglas McGeorge of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons.

The company had also been ordered to pay damages to British women who received implants made with a banned hydrogel solution, but it never did so.

"There needs to be an urgent inquiry as to how this company was allowed to continue to supply defective products to women in this country whilst at the same time being uninsured," said attorney Paul Balen, who is representing the women in that case.

Sources for this story include: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews... http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-12....