France to pay for implant removals, even as cancer fears subside

By the CNN Wire Staff

updated 9:52 AM EST, Fri December 23, 2011

France to pay for breast implant removal

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Experts alleviated cancer fears linked to a certain breast implant
• But the government will still offer to pay to remove them
• There are risks of rupture, the Health Ministry says
• The brand of implants was not sold in the U.S.

Paris (CNN) -- The French government backed off a claim that a certain type of silicone breast implant is linked to a rare form of cancer, but it will nonetheless pay for women to have them removed because of other risks.

Women with implants by a company called Poly Implant Prosthese (PIP) will not be required to get them removed, but they will be offered surgery to do so if concerned, the French Health Ministry said Friday.

The ministry says about 30,000 French women have PIP implants, which are not currently approved for use in the United States.

According to a news release from the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, PIP is now defunct. It says the company "used non-medical grade silicone believed by the manufacturers to be made for mattresses."

The Ministry of Health turned to experts after the cancer fears arose and said that the feedback they received was that there is no increased cancer risk in women with PIP implants compared to other implants.

However, the ministry said in a statement, there are other established risks such as ruptures.

The French government agency that evaluates the safety of medical products says 523 women have had them removed since a defect was discovered last year.

More than 1,000 implants have ruptured since then, the agency says.

"These experts said that there is no link between cancer and ... PIP implant breasts. However, since there is a lot of ruptures, (concerns) are growing because the nature of the implant is no good," said Jean Yves Grall, the country's director of health.

Fran�ois Godineau, director of social security, said it would cost the state up to 60 million euros (U.S. $73 million) if they paid for the removal of the PIP breast implants in France.

Of the 30,000 women who have the implants, 80% underwent the surgery for esthetic reasons, and 20% did so for reconstructive reasons, such as after breast cancer.

Under the state's offer, the women with the implants will be offered to have the implants removed, but it will not pay for new implants for those who had the surgery for esthetic reasons. Others would have new implants paid for.

CNN's Saskya Vandoorne contributed to this report.

Source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/cnn_health/~3/z4RuNlyai5U/index.html

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