French PIP breast implant scandal: an ongoing global health scandal
(FRANCE 24) - It’s been eight years since the French authorities first drew attention to a French company selling faulty, and potentially dangerous, breast implants. The implants, manufactured by French company Poly Implant Prothèse (PIP), were made with cheap, unapproved silicone designed for use in mattresses. Hundreds of thousands of women all over the world were affected – and all are still waiting for compensation. In 2010, the French medicine and healthcare watchdog Afssaps withdrew the PIP implants from the market, after surgeons reported a higher-than-usual rate of rupture. The same day, Poly Implant Prothèse was placed into compulsory liquidation. What followed was a drawn-out health scandal that took years to skewer those responsible. Jean-Claude Mas, the founder of PIP was only condemned for fraud six years later. He launched an appeal, which was eventually rejected by France’s highest court in September this year, and he will be serving a sentence of four years in jail a...