Shopping laws call in implants scandal

Campaigners who are using a social networking site to advise women have suggested that where cosmetic surgery firms drag their feet they cite the Sales of Goods Act 1979, which requires goods supplied by traders to be ‘as described’, ‘fit for their purpose’ and of ‘satisfactory quality’.

An urgent review is under way, ordered by Health Secretary Andrew Lansley after receiving figures suggesting more than 3,000 UK women face complications.

Around 40,000 women are believed to have had the silicone implants made by Poly Implant Prothese (PIP), including thousands who underwent reconstructive breast surgery through the NHS.

The French authorities shut down PIP last year after the company was found to be using cheap industrial silicone. Paris has since recommended that women have the prosthetics removed.

The UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) previously said the risk of rupture was only 1 per cent, but a cosmetic surgery chain told ministers privately the rupture rate could be as high as 7 per cent or 8 per cent. The company apparently carried out 4,000 of the implants, but if its estimate is correct up to 3,200 women could be affected.

Mr Lansley said NHS Medical Director, Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, had been ordered to review the situation and the MHRA will also be conducting an audit of evidence to resolve concerns about the “content and quality of the data that cosmetic surgery providers are sharing with the regulator”.

“We are doing everything we can to ensure that women with these implants get the best possible advice,” Mr Lansley said. “I want to reassure women that if any new data comes to light which calls into question the safety of these implants, we will act swiftly to help them. Our top priority is making sure that women get the correct advice so that they are kept safe.”