High health risks due to breast implants

Recall action started: Warning about faulty breast implants

21/12/2012

Breast augmentation is always a health risk, but using the breast implants of the French company Poly Implant Prothèse (PIP) also increases the health risk enormously.

French authorities had already discovered in 2010 that the production of silicone cushions used inferior gel, resulting in increased cracking of the implants and, as a result, inflammation. In Germany, according to the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM), 19 such cases have already been reported. The risk can only be avoided by removing or replacing the implants.

Inferior breast implants tear more often and promote inflammation
The French agency for the safety of medical devices (Afssaps) had found that PIP in the manufacture of the breast implants instead of the intended silicone gel a more favorable „homemade gel“ the competent prosecutor Jacques Dallest declared in Marseilles. Affected is a large part of the breast implants manufactured since 2001 by PIP. The reason for the use of the inferior gel was apparently pure profit interest. For example, the company which has not existed since 2010 at the expense of the health of many women has saved about one million euros a year in costs. According to prosecutors, the homemade gel cost only one-tenth of the proper silicone gel. Immediately after the scandal was discovered in 2010, the French authorities prohibited the continued use, marketing and export of PIP's silicone gel breast implants throughout Europe. But in the body of tens of thousands of women are still the health-endangering silicone pillows.

Tens of thousands of women affected by defective breast implants
Especially in France, the faulty breast implants of the manufacturer PIP were used. According to estimates by the French health authorities, between 30,000 and 40,000 women are affected by the defective silicone cushions. Although the PIP breast implants were also used in other countries, the number of patients is generally quite manageable. For example, the implants were only used in Switzerland for around 280 women. How many women in Germany received a breast implant from the manufacturer PIP, according to the BfArM expert Maik Pommer told journalists of the media group „West German Allgemeine Zeitung“ (WAZ media group) „not known“. It is clear that so far 19 women experienced a corresponding crack of the faulty silicone pad. „All over Germany, we are aware of 19 cases in which implants of the manufacturer PIP were torn in the chest“, explained Maik Pommer. However, the German Society of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons (DGPRÄC) does not assume that the faulty PIP implants in Germany become a major issue. The warning already issued in April 2010 only came forward „Two surgeons working with PIP“, This is the statement by Kerstin van Ark, spokeswoman for the DGPRÄC, to the WAZ media group.

Removal of health-threatening breast implants makes sense
In addition to the tearing of the implants, the affected women may be threatened with further serious health consequences of the defective silicone cushions, as these may possibly also increase the risk of cancer. So far it remains unclear whether the suspected cases of suspected cancer in France in at least eight patients are indeed related to the faulty breast implants, according to the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices. In France, where significantly more women are affected by the inferior silicone cushions than in Germany, the overall discussion is already a bit further. While speculation is still underway in this country about the potential number of victims and the consequences of defective implants, the French health authorities want to launch a call by the end of the week, in which the more than 30,000 women affected are asked to take off their PIP breast implants again leave, so the reports of the newspaper „Libération“ from Tuesday. In this context, the French Society of Aesthetic and Plastic Surgeons (Sofcep) and two other associations have asked their profession not to charge excessive fees for the removal of the health-threatening PIP implants. Even though the number of defective silicone pads used in Germany is significantly lower overall, a corresponding second operation for removing the PIP breast implants in this country could also be useful in order to avoid long-term health consequences. (Fp)

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Picture: Martin Büdenbender