Government reiterates that women with PIP breast implants do not need to have their implants removed
Head of Litigation at Hugh James, Mark Harvey condemns
Government’s lack of control over ‘powerful cosmetic
industry’
06 | 01 | 12
The Government announced on Friday
6 January that there is no need for routine removal of
PIP breast implants. However, it continued to state that the
NHS should pay for women who were fitted with these implants
through the NHS and that it expected private clinics to follow
suit. Renowned campaigning lawyer Mark Harvey, Partner and head of
the top ranked personal injury team at
Hugh James solicitors, is representing over 600 women with PIP
implants of which over 300 have contacted Hugh James in the last
two weeks. Reacting to the announcement Mark Harvey commented
that
“The announcement is indecisive
and sends out mixed messages to women across the UK affected by the
PIP implants; it will be a big disappointment to our clients who
have again been shown a complete lack of support and care from the
Government and I know they will feel let down. On the one hand,
they have recommended that the NHS should remove implants for
concerned women if they have had their implants on the NHS, which
we of course support. However, by only making a suggestion that the
cosmetic industry should follow the example of the NHS then the
Government again leaves women vulnerable. The announcement also
suggests that the Government has no power to enforce this on the
clinics; leaving this powerful cosmetic industry to their own
devices. From our client’s experiences with many of these clinics
to date, they have shown affected women no sympathy or support and
we are extremely concerned that this announcement will again allow
cosmetic clinics to leave women to try to sort out this serious
problem alone. The announcement has gone against
recommendations already made by the professionals of the review
group who must have the most relevant expertise and this will
again, as has been caused already by the MHRA and the
Government’s dealing of this scandal, cause greater uncertainty and
concern for our clients. Worst of all it goes against what Mr
Lansley was telling the clinics early this week, that they should
be removing the implants”.
BAAPS President Fazel Fatah and a
member of the review group advising the Government on this matter
ahead of the announcement had commented that;
“some patients will prefer them
removed as a preventative measure and this is an entirely rational
approach in view of the quality issues associated with
PIPs.”
The announcement was made following
a Government review of the risks posed by faulty silicone breast
implants after suggestions that more than 3,000 may be affected by
these implants that were recalled in March 2010. Following
contradictory data about the rupture rate of these implants, Andrew
Lansley, the Health Secretary, announced last Saturday that
there were fears that existing evidence about potential dangers was
not reliable. The review was chaired by NHS medical director,
Professor Sir Bruce Keogh.
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.
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For information on joining the
group represented by Mark Harvey please contact Hugh James on 02920
224 871 or complete the enquiry
form.