ABOUT PIP
The PIP breast implants that were fraudulently filled with industrial-grade silicone may have caused their recipients harm
The company produced circa 100 000 implants per year, during circa 20 years. Approximately 400,000 women worldwide may have PIP gel implant products implanted to enhance breast size or correct for tissue loss. The implants have been exported to Latin American countries such as Brazil, Venezuela and Argentina, Western European markets including Britain (25 000), Germany, Spain and Italy, as well as Australia (8900).
Mas teamed up with plastic surgeon Henri Arion, who introduced breast implants to France in 1965
TIME LINE
2000: Implant sales in USA halted by an FDA launched moratorium on silicone implants.
2001: PIP began to use unapproved in-house manufactured industrial-grade instead of medical-grade silicone in the majority of its implants.
2003: the first signs of legal problems and financial losses can be traced by regulatory filings.
2009: Concerns surfaced in France first in 2009 when surgeons started reporting an abnormally high rupture rates. Which resulted in a flood of legal complaints and the company's bankruptcy.
2010: TÜV Rheinland, headquartered in Germany, gave a quality certificate to the production process used by the company until March 2010. However, this didn't apply to the type of silicone used.
- A former PIP worker and union chief, Eric Mariaccia said "You had to have been a chemist to have noticed anything,". He also said that "The responsible ones aren't the workers but the heads of the company, notably the four who were linked to production and thus responsible for their quality,".
2011: On December 20 French officials say that an action plan is underway following the death of a woman from ALCL. The French government recommended on December 23, 2011 that 30 000 women in France seek removal of breast implants made of a suspect silicone gel by the worldwide exporting PIP firm
IMPACT IN:
FRANCE
The French government recommended per December 23, 2011 that 30 000 women in France seek removal of breast implants made by PIP. For women that want to keep their implants, the state will pay for a 6-monthly ultrasound scan.
French public health care funds will be used to finance the recommended implant removals, at a cost estimated at 60 million EUR. New implants will be paid for in cases where they were used initially for medical reasons, others will need to finance a new implant by themselves. Associations representing women with PIP implants demand that public funds cover all cases. "This announcement is just a smokescreen and the victims of PIP are angry," says Alexandra Blachere, head of the association of PIP implant users in France.
A government hotline has been set up by December 2011
UK
In Britain, there's an estimated 30 000 - 40 000 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting affected women. The chief Medical Officer Dame Sally Davies says: "Women with PIP implants should not be unduly worried. We have no evidence of a link to cancer or an increased risk of rupture. If women are concerned they should speak to their surgeon.". Removing the implant "carries risks in itself," she also said.
Concerns was filed with the The UK MHRA in 2009 when a lump was found during a mammogram and ultrasound scan in a female patients breast but no action was taken by MHRA at the time.
Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham said private clinics in Britain that fitted PIP implants must be forced to pick up the cost of removing them.
On 6 January 2012 the British Health ministry will offer examinations and possible removal - in instances where a doctor says it's necessary. And called on private medical centers to offer the same deal to patients who had paid for private sector cosmetic surgery
LATIN AND SOUTH AMERICA
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