Allianz has to pay for cheap breast implants

PIP scandal: Alliance sentenced to pay for cheap breast implants

06/19/2012

Allianz Insurance must pay damages to patients with PIP breast implants. A French court has sentenced the insurance company to pay a patient for the resulting impairment of the cheap breast implant just under 20,000 euros in damages.

In the scandal involving the inferior breast implants of the French manufacturer PIP (Poly Implant Prothèse), Allianz was re-sentenced as insurer of PIP for damages. The German insurance company must pay compensation to a woman in the amount of 19,650 euros. Not a particularly high sum in itself, but with up to 40,000 affected patients in France alone and hundreds of thousands of affected people worldwide, the current verdict for the alliance could have far-reaching consequences.

Allianz feels deceived by the manufacturer of breast implants
The alliance had previously refused to pay compensation for the patients with cheap breast implants from PIP. The insurance company was deliberately fooled by the manufacturer PIP, not least because inferior silicone gel was used to manufacture the implants. However, the Commercial Court in Toulon, southern France, had rejected in early June a similar claim by Allianz for nullity of its contracts with PIP. Now, the court in Lyon has stated in its ruling that the alliance as insurance of PIP for the health damage caused by defective implants must pay. It is still unclear whether the Alliance will possibly appeal against the current ruling.

Manufacturer of breast implants used inferior silicone gel
Already in January, the court in Avignon, France, had ordered Allianz Versicherung or its French subsidiary to pay € 4,000 in damages to a patient. Again, the insurance could not prevail with its position, although it is undisputed that PIP has deceived both the insurance and the medical profession and the public through the processing of inferior industrial silicone in the breast implants. As the company founder of PIP has now acknowledged, since 1995, about 75 percent of breast implants have been illegally filled with low-grade silicone gel, which was actually intended for industrial use. The result was increased cracks and corresponding inflammation. Physicians and health authorities around the world have therefore asked affected patients to get rid of the cheap breast implants again. However, PIP can no longer be prosecuted for the damages incurred, as the company has now filed for bankruptcy. (Fp)

Read about:
Insurance is not liable for PIP breast implants
First judgment in the breast implant scandal
Breast implant scandal: WHO turns on
Health insurance pays for new breast surgery
Faulty Breast Implants: Late Information
Insurance is not liable for PIP breast implants
Dispute over breast implant: cash must not pay
Breast implants may burst
Faulty silicone pad implanted in women

Image: Henning Hraban Ramm