PIP breast implant boss arrested

Mr Mas founded the now-defunt company PIP

The owner of a French breast implant maker at the centre of a safety scare has been arrested in the south of France, police sources have said.

Poly Implant Prothese (PIP) founder Jean-Claude Mas, 72, was held at his home in Six-Fours-les-Plages, according to the AFP news agency.

France banned PIP implants made with industrial silicone in 2010, and 30,000 women were advised to remove them.

There were fears the implants could rupture and leak silicon into the body.

An estimated 300,000 to 400,000 women were given the implants in 65 countries, mainly in Latin America and elsewhere in Europe.

The medical advice in the UK, where 40,000 are affected, is that there is no need for all the implants to be removed, only those causing problems such as pain or tenderness.

In England, the NHS will only replace them in exceptional circumstances.

BBC

This entry was posted on January 26, 2012 at 07:07 and is filed under International News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.