About 600 Irish women to be compensated over breast implant scandal

An estimated 600 Irish women who were given faulty breast implants are set to be compensated after a French court found negligence was involved.

Thousands of women in different countries who were victims of the PIP breast implant scandal should be compensated, the French appeal court found this week.

The court upheld an earlier judgment that found TUV Rheinland, the German body that awarded safety certificates for the faulty breast implants, negligent.

The scandal emerged in 2010, when it was found the implants made by French company Poly Implant Prothese (PIP) were filled with industrial-grade silicone not suitable for use in humans. Doctors began to notice abnormally high rupture rates.

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The company has since been liquidated and its founder jailed.

David Coleman, a solicitor who represented some of the Irish women in initial legal claims over the faulty implants, described the French court's decision as "good news" for the Irish women involved, as they are now set to receive compensation.

Olivier Aumaître, the lawyer about 2,700 women in the case, said it was a historic day for the victims and for women’s rights. He said the company would now have to fully compensate all the women judged to be victims.

“I’m very happy for all the women I represent who have waited for such a long time for this decision and suffered for such long periods,” he said.

While TUV Rheinland can appeal to a higher court, the establishment of a redress scheme for the women is now inevitable, according to Mr Coleman.

He said the first sample awards were likely to be made in the autumn, and thereafter a “pipeline” of compensation would be established.