As many of you are fully aware, we have only really been finding out about all of this n the last few months – two years on from the initial notification!
The conclusions from the reports remain unclear. According to the Committee, there is “no evidence of likely long term negative health effects attributable to PIP implants.” However, the advice goes in to say that “the quality of evidence available does not allow definitive conclusions to be drawn.” Further research is therefore a requirement to confirm whether the use of the silicon in these implants poses any health risk to the victims who have them.
The further recommendations in to better regulation of the industry and a better protocol for people who could be affected by future similar incidents to be notified efficiently has also been confirmed. Concerns have been raised about just how little knowledge the PIP victims had of the implants they were given at the time, which includes making information easier for patients to retrieve.
Health Committee Chair, Mr Stephen Dorrell ,MP, has said “the information available is acknowledged to be insufficient either to allow the regulator to make evidence-based judgements about the safety or otherwise of implants that were in widespread use, or to allow patients’ clinicians to know whether their individual patient is affected. This is clearly unsatisfactory.”
The Commons Health Select Committee has also welcomed the idea of the NHS performing removal and replacement surgery for private patients in cases where it has become an absolute necessity for the implants to be removed; particularly in cases where the companies are no longer trading. The costs for care provided should then be pursued from the original clinic of their insurers.
The reports that are coming in still do not shed any light for the thousands of PIP victims in the UK and across the world who just want to know exactly what the industrial grade silicon inside their bodies could potentially do to their health. Whilst the scientific evidence so far appears inconclusive, we have reports from the front line that speak for themselves. We have taken on many cases to date, and concerning a number of our clients with ruptured implants, and have had some form of adverse health issue that cannot be explained.
The issue of whether the implants are more likely to rupture still seems unanswered, but as we have said on numerous occasions, the sheer number of our clients whose implants have ruptured offers evidence for debate. The health conditions suffered have only so far been linked to the fact they have PIP implants inside their bodies.
On a final issue, we must remember that the type of silicon used was illegal for use inside the human body. This must be for a very good reason; and we, as well as the thousands of PIP victims out there, would like to know why. (http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/health-committee/news/12-03-22-pipreport/)