British women can have French breast implants removed for free
10th January 2012
The government has said that women who are concerned about breast implants produced by the French company, Poly Implant Prothese (PIP) should be able to have them removed for free. This would be by the NHS if the implant was inserted by the NHS after reconstruction surgery following breast cancer or by the private clinic if it was cosmetic surgery.
The government has also said that an inquiry into the safety of the PIP implants has not suggested that removal is required as a matter of routine. This is despite the fact that industrial-grade silicon (intended for use in mattresses) instead of medical silicone, was used in the manufacture of the PIP breast implants.
Last year countries in Europe and South America banned the use of the implants as a result of fears that the implants may rupture.
The government was forced to deal with the issue just before Christmas 2011 when the French government announced that it would pay for approximately 30,000 French women to have the implants removed amid fears that the ruptured implants could carry a cancer risk. As a result the Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley, announced that the government did not have sufficient information to comment on the risks of the implants.
Risk of rupture of the PIP implants had been thought to be in the region of 1% but one cosmetic surgery group reported rupture rates as high as 7%. It should be noted, however, that this figure was given following a very small sample of patients and was not sufficient to provide reliable clinical data. Nevertheless, this prompted the government to request additional information from the various cosmetic surgery groups operating in the UK.
The information was provided by 6th January 2012. The government subsequently announced that whilst the information they held regarding the risk of the implants rupturing remained inconclusive it was felt by medical advisors that they could not overlook the anxiety that women may suffer at having the implants in their bodies. The anxiety itself could be a health risk. If there was a medical reason or the patient was too anxious to leave the implants in place the NHS would fund surgery to remove them. The vast majority of the patients who have received implants through the NHS will have undergone breast reconstruction following breast cancer.
A Department of Health statement said:
"The NHS will support removal of PIP implants if - informed by an assessment of clinical need, risk or the impact of unresolved concerns - a woman with her doctor decides that it is right to do so. The NHS will replace the implants if the original operation was done by the NHS."
The statement continued:
"The wellbeing of women who have had PIP breast implants is our main priority. That is why the health secretary asked an expert group - led by the NHS medical director, Professor Sir Bruce Keogh - to review all available evidence and data on PIP breast implants.
The group has concluded that the advice given by the MHRA [Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency] still stands and that there is not enough evidence to recommend routine explanation of these breast implants. The group also agrees there is no link with cancer. However, it is undeniably the case that these implants are made up of non-medical grade silicone and therefore should not have been implanted...in the first place."
The government has said private clinics that have a 'moral duty' to remove PIP implants that they have fitted.
If you have received PIP implants under the NHS and you are concerned, contact your treating Consultant or go to your GP who should be able to give you further advice. If the implants were put in privately, you should contact the clinic concerned directly.
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