In January this year she said “I have had PIP implants for five years and I’ve never had any problems. We’ve used them on a number of women and we haven’t had any complaints. People are being told they rupture and cause cancer but in the UK there’s no evidence for that. As a result there’s a mass panic. We have had no ruptures though.”
She added “it seems wrong that women with PIP implants are being whipped into a frenzy even though there’s no evidence they are dangerous.”
Now, having seen the terrifying volume of rupture cases in her own clinic, she has since changed her tune and is now on the waiting list to have hers removed.
She has admitted that her change of heart has stemmed from the flood of calls from their patients who are terrified about the consequences they face from the implants they have inside of them, as well as some of the rupture cases she has witnessed in theatre. She described it as “alarming” having seen the evidence for herself, with the clinic having performed a number of removal and replacement operations to date.
The evidence surrounding whether the implants pose any form of health issue remains unclear. But one thing is for certain – those on the front line, i.e. the patients, us lawyers, and even the clinics, whether they care to admit it or not, are seeing the evidence for ourselves. A number of our clients have had confirmation of ruptures, with most of them suffering from one or more of the symptoms that have been linked with the potential dangers the silicon could cause.
We should also make sure that one salient fact should not be forgotten – the silicon used inside the implants was cheaper and was illegal for use in implants for a very good reason. What that reason is, we don’t know – but there must be a reason. Irrelevant of whether the PIP company or any clinics and surgeons believe the silicon can cause no harm, an illegal grade was still knowingly used; and was kept well hidden from inspectors regulating the PIP company’s production.