On 9 March 2012, the High Court in Cardiff made a Group Litigation Order (GLO)
in relation to personal injury claims being made by women who received PIP
breast implants. Mark Harvey of Hugh James has been appointed as the lead
solicitor. The GLO will allow those affected to have their cases heard by a
Judge. Those who have not yet started their claim will need to do so to be
included in any further action.
The purpose of the GLO is to ensure that all
such cases are pursued and managed together. The GLO has been approved by the
President of Queen's Bench Division and the GLO and has now been lodged in the
High Court in London. It is anticipated that there will be a trial in the winter
of 2013.
Read more about Hugh James PIP claims.
Friday, 9 March 2012
Monday, 23 January 2012
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.
Thursday, 12 January 2012
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.
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