PIP breast implant scandal continues to be debated

The Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) recently issued a statement which calls for all women affected by the PIP breast implant scandal to have them removed upon request.

The advice contradicts guidance given by the UK Government, which states that the PIP implant poses no risk and should only be removed if a rupture is found. The RCS statement insists that all patients should have access to an assessment and be given the opportunity to have the implants removed upon requests. It also criticised private clinics by saying they “have an ethical and moral duty of care to offer patients treatment without charge”.

The statement follows a report issued in the Lancet medical journal which discusses how Brian Toft, Professor of patient safety at Coventry University had last year warned ministers of short comings in the regulatory process for approving medical products in the UK and Europe.

The PIP scandal has triggered the Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley to issue a review of the regulatory system in the UK.

Read our full news release

UK Government confirm that NHS will remove but not replace private PIP Breast Implants

In an announcement at the Commons yesterday, Health Secretary Andrew Lansely reiterated the statement released on Friday 6 January that the NHS will remove breast implants for women who had these implants on the NHS and will also remove breast implants for women treated privately where their clinic has ceased trading or will not help them, if there is a health risk to them. He again reiterated that he hoped the cosmetic clinics would step in to treat their patients so that this burden does not fall on the NHS.

A Review to examine the standards of private clinics was also announced by the Health Secretary.  This will be carried out by the Care Quality Commission and will report back by the end of March.

Mr Lansley was criticised in his handling of this matter by the Shadow Health Secretary, Andy Burnham, who stated that he has sent ‘mixed messages’ to women and has left them ‘fending for themselves.’

Mr Lansley did not take the same step as the Welsh Government who announced that the NHS would remove and replace PIP breast implants for all women affected who live in and are registered with a GP in Wales if they can show that they have sought assistance from their implanting clinic but that they failed to assist.

The Harley Medical Group, one of the British companies that implanted the most number of PIP breast implants have today confirmed that they will not replace these implants free of charge claiming that doing so would put them out of business.

Read our full release

Government reiterates that women with PIP breast implants do not need to have their implants removed

Head of Litigation at Hugh James, Mark Harvey condemns Government’s lack of control over ‘powerful cosmetic industry’

The Government announced on Friday 6 January that there is no need for routine removal of PIP breast implants. However, it continued to state that the NHS should pay for women who were fitted with these implants through the NHS and that it expected private clinics to follow suit. Renowned campaigning lawyer Mark Harvey, Partner and head of the top ranked personal injury team at Hugh James solicitors, is representing over 600 women with PIP implants of which over 300 have contacted Hugh James in the last two weeks. Reacting to the recent announcement Mark Harvey commented that:

“The announcement is indecisive and sends out mixed messages to women across the UK affected by the PIP implants; it will be a big disappointment to our clients who have again been shown a complete lack of support and care from the Government and I know they will feel let down. On the one hand, they have recommended that the NHS should remove implants for concerned women if they have had their implants on the NHS, which we of course support. However, by only making a suggestion that the cosmetic industry should follow the example of the NHS then the Government again leaves women vulnerable. The announcement also suggests that the Government has no power to enforce this on the clinics; leaving this powerful cosmetic industry to their own devices. From our client’s experiences with many of these clinics to date, they have shown affected women no sympathy or support and we are extremely concerned that this announcement will again allow cosmetic clinics to leave women to try to sort out this serious problem alone. The announcement has gone against recommendations already made by the professionals of the review group who must have the most relevant expertise and this will again, as has been caused  already by the MHRA and the Government’s dealing of this scandal, cause greater uncertainty and concern for our clients. Worst of all it goes against what Mr Lansley was telling the clinics early this week, that they should be removing the implants”.

The announcement was made following a Government review of the risks posed by faulty silicone breast implants after suggestions that more than 3,000 may be affected by these implants that were recalled in March 2010. Following contradictory data about the rupture rate of these implants, Andrew Lansley, the Health Secretary, announced last Saturday that there were fears that existing evidence about potential dangers was not reliable.

Mark Harvey will be continuing to pursue legal claims on behalf of his clients and will be making an application to the Court for a Group Litigation Order at the end of the month so that the legal issues may be dealt with by a Judge later this year. 

Read our full news release