Women face £2,800 bill to have suspect breast implants out

A leading cosmetic surgery firm is refusing to offer women with PIP breast implants free removal and replacement.

Transform has said it is reviewing its options but, as it stands, women will have to pay £2,800 to have the implants removed.

It follows an announcement from the Government on Friday that anxious patients who had their surgery on the NHS will be able to have the implants removed and replaced free of charge.

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Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said he expects private clinics to offer the same deal to their patients.

Around 40,000 British women have received PIP implants manufactured by the now closed French company Poly Implant Prostheses (PIP).

The implants were filled with non-medical grade silicone intended for use in mattresses.

A spokeswoman for Transform, which has just over 4,000 patients in the UK with PIP implants, said: “Currently, Transform patients will have to pay to have a removal and re-operation.”

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She said the firm was reviewing all its options and was making “no commercial gain” from charging women £2,800 to have the implants removed.

Mel Braham, chairman of the The Harley Medical Group, which has 13,900 patients with PIP implants, said it would pay for the cost of new implants, but only if the NHS did the surgery.

He said the Government was responsible for the situation and could do the operations because it had hospitals “at its fingertips”.

The Hospital Group has said it will only pay to replace PIP implants that have ruptured.

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The group cites the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s position that there is no evidence to support routine removal of the implants.

This is also the Government’s view, however its experts concluded that it could not be ruled out that some of the implants are toxic.

Ramsay Health Care, which has around 150 patients with PIP implants, said it was offering concerned women the chance to be examined and, if there is a rupture or clinical need, the implants would be removed and replaced free of charge.

In France, the government has told 30,000 women they should have the implants removed.

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