British women removed breast implant after PIP implants failed to help or close

More than 2,800 women with privately fitted PIP breast implants (found to contain industrial-grade silicone) have been referred to the NHS in England, according to government figures. Over 1,000 have had scans and 67 have opted to have the implants removed, according to Department of Health statistics.

So far only a small number patients - 12 - have actually had the implants 'explanted' by the NHS. But private clinics were responsible for putting in the implants, made by fraudulent French company Poly Implant Prothese (PIP), in 12 of those cases.

The cost of surgery alone for the 67 former private clinic clients who have resorted to the NHS for removal is likely to surpass £100,000. When the other costs are added up - at least 2,860 GP appointments, the same number of consultant appointments, and over 1,100 scans - the total bill to the taxpayer so far could approach £500,000.

Figures show 741 women had implants fitted by the NHS, largely for reconstruction after breast cancer. News of the potential health risk spread rapidly since December, when the French government advised 30,000 women to have substandard PIP implants removed following warnings that they were more likely to rupture than other implants.

The firm – at one time the third-biggest global supplier of breast implants – cut costs by using its own concoction, not approved for medical use, which included a mix of agricultural and industrial grade-silicone. While 40,000 British women have the PIP implants, the government has said there is no urgent clinical need for all of them to have these removed.

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