Dr Christopher Prevel, Blog- Florida Plastic Surgery Institute

 

Over the last several weeks, a tragic story of greed and arrogance has unfolded across the EU and South America. A French Breast Implant Company, Poly Implant Prosthese (PIP) has been charged with selling an unsafe silicone breast implant containing an additive, Baysilone, used in the industrial fuel and rubber industries. This additive along with Silopren and Rhodorsil were found in the silicone gel of PIP Breast Implants recently analyzed by a French Toxicologist hired by the French Network RTL. These additives combined with the industrial grade silicone gel are attributed to cause the high rate of rupture of these implants compared to those produced by the US FDA approved silicone gel breast implants sold by Allergan,Inc. and Mentor Corporation. In fact, PIP Saline Breast Implants have not been FDA approved for sale in the USA since 2000, and PIP Silicone Gel Breast Implants have never received FDA approval.

 

The former President of PIP, Jean-Claude Mas, is in hiding from French Authorities who are seeking to arrest him over charges of manslaughter and fraud. In the recent past he was quoted as saying that his customers are "psychologically frail' women who are only trying "to make money" from him.

 

According to his Attorney, Yves Haddad, PIP produced a more expensive silicone breast implant using FDA approved medical grade silicone sold by Nusil. However, the company was facing bankruptcy and as a result, created a second silicone breast implant that contained a internally fabricated industrial grade silicone gel that was at least 80% cheaper to produce. This silicone was never intended for human use and would have never been approved by any of the EU Health Ministries.

 

Thus, Mr. Mas could be considered to have begun his own clinical trial studying industrial grade silicone gel Breast Implants using European and South American women as his test subjects...More to follow...