UK Government confirm that NHS will remove but not replace private PIP Breast Implants
Head of Litigation at Hugh James,
Mark Harvey condemns the Harley Medical Group’s response
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In an announcement at the
Commons today, 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 yesterday 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.
Renowned campaigning lawyer Mark
Harvey, Partner and head of the
top ranked personal injury team at Hugh James
solicitors, is representing over 700 women with PIP implants of
which over 400 have contacted Hugh James in the last three weeks.
Reacting to today’s developments, Mark Harvey commented:
“I agree that the Government has
shown a lack of leadership in this matter and that it has sent
mixed messages to women who have been on a rollercoaster ride in
the last few weeks due to the contradictory reports and reactions
by the Government in relation to this scandal. The medical advice
from the Welsh Government as to the risks to women of removing but
not replacing their implants reflects the advice we too have
received, and we are concerned that the Government’s policy in
England will store up future problems for those they help from the
private sector.
“I welcome the Care Quality
Commission Review which the Government has commissioned into
industry standards. I think the reaction of the cosmetic
surgery industry has, in general, been completely unsatisfactory.
However, today’s announcement by the Harley Medical Group comes as
no surprise to me as we have been taking numerous calls from women
who have been refused any assistance from the Harley Medical Group
and, additionally, have been shown a complete lack of care. We hope
that the Government will put further pressure on the cosmetic
surgery clinics to ensure that the clinics who are yet to provide a
statement on their approach going forward do not follow the Harley
Medical Group lead. ”
The faulty PIP implants are the
subject of a Medical Device Alert (MDA) by the Medicines and
Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), with a recall being
issued on March 31 2010 for all UK implants over a year after Mr
Harvey first alerted the MHRA to the problem. The implants were
recalled following the discovery that the implants contained
industrial silicone.
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.
For information on
joining the group represented by Partner, Mark Harvey please
contact Hugh James on 029 2022 4871 or complete our
enquiry form.