Clinic reassures women over implants

AN IRISH clinic that has used breast implants at the centre of a health scare in France says it has had “some” calls from worried women, but that all have been reassured by its response.

French authorities have advised that up to 30,000 women who have implants manufactured by the Poly Implant Prothese company removed as a “preventive” measure.

Concerns have grown since last week when French authorities announced up to 30,000 women had defective implants, produced by the company. These increased yesterday when the French health minister Xavier Bertrand advised them to have the implants removed.

Although the authorities had found no evidence of any increased risk of cancer, Mr Bertrand said there was still a risk the implants could rupture and leak silicone gel and recommended that women with the implants should have them taken out as “a preventive measure, not of an urgent nature”.

The French government has said it will pay for women to have the implants removed.

Three clinics in the Republic have used the implants in procedures carried out on up to 1,500 women. They are the Shandon Street Hospital in Cork, Clane Hospital in Co Kildare and Harley Medical Clinic in Dublin.

The implants, which are filled with a type of silicone used in mattresses, have been linked to the death of a French woman from a rare form of cancer, anaplastic large-cell lymphoma, and are implicated in a number of other cases.

They contain an unapproved gel that has been found to become granular and lumpy, increasing the possibility of the implant tearing and the gel leaking into the woman’s body.

There have also been reports that the protective barriers are faulty, and that 10 per cent of them split within a year of being implanted.

The company closed last year and more than 2,000 women have filed legal complaints against it.

Clane Hospital yesterday said it had had “some calls certainly”.

“We have had our calls and women have expressed their concerns but they have certainly been reassured. We are following the advice from the Irish Medicines Board.”

Earlier this week the medicines board said there was “no current evidence of health risks associated with the implants” concerned.

In a statement yesterday, the board said it noted “the preventative and non-urgent recommendation made by the French ministry for French women with these implants to discuss and consider explanation with their implanting surgeon.

“The IMB will continue to monitor this issue.

“The advice of the IMB remains unchanged and it reassures women that there is no current evidence of health risks associated with implants. The IMB continues to advise women with these implants that if they have any concerns about their breasts or implants they should seek clinical advice from their implanting surgeon.”

Shandon Hospital could not be contacted last night and the Harley Medical Clinic did not respond to queries.