You will probably have seen the news that so called PIPs – Poly Implant Prosthesis – have been recalled as being dangerous. However, there are quite literally thousands of women who have had their breasts enlarged with these implants and they may now need a solicitor to have the implants removed. In Scotland alone, it is believed that at least 4,000 women have had these implants.
The Business with PIPs
Just before Christmas last year, the French government issues an official statement that women who had PIPs should have them removed as a matter of urgency. This is because the rupture rate of these implants stands at around 5%, which is too high. The consequences of a ruptured implant can be very dire. Following this recommendation, the NHS immediately agreed to allow women to have these implants removed and some private clinics joined in to help. Private clinics, however, did try to make a little bit of money out of this, suggesting they would remove them for free and replace them with new ones – at a fee, of course.
Other Issues
As it turns out, however, the UK had already recalled these medicines and the MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency) had stated that these implants were in fact very unsafe. The gel used within them was a non-approved gel. In fact, it was gel that is commonly used in mattresses, which is not suitable for the human body.
Why You Need a Solicitor
So why do you need a solicitor? The NHS has agreed to remove the implants for free, but that doesn’t mean you are not entitled to compensation. You will have paid for the implants in the first place, which you should be compensated for. Furthermore, it is unlikely that you have the funds available to replace your implants, which means you will have to learn to live with smaller breasts once again. Last but not least, your implants may have ruptured, in which case you have strong grounds for a malpractice suit.
It is always best to speak to a no win-no fee solicitor. After all, you’ve got nothing to lose.