I didn't really know a lot about the recent breast implant story but I decided to find out about it...this is what I came up with.
Recently there has been a lot of coverage in the news about PIP (Poly Implant Prothese) breast implants due to "a health scare, after French authorities found a rupture rate of 5% and recommended implants were removed" (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16395244). Poly Implant Prothese was a French firm that "were banned in 2010, after their implants were found to contain industrial grade silicone gel, rather than medical grade" (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16395244). This supposedly led to a higher risk of the implants rupturing.
Andrew Lansley, the Health Secretary for England, launched a review, at the beginning of the week, due to the conflicting evidence for the rupture rates of the PIP implants. Some sources claimed that there was only a "1% (rupture rate) - in line with other implants" (statistics from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16395244). Fergus Walsh, the medical correspondent for the BBC, has written an article at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16401016 about warnings of the statistics that have been produced and how some of it can be misleading due to the way that the data has been set out and collected.
In essence, this story is about the peoples reaction to the story. "40,000 British women have been fitted with the implants" (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16395244). Essentially, the data that Andrew Lansley is trying to get is the data that these women want to know; how many British women have had ruptured implants?
The options aren't very good at the moment for the women who have had the PIP implants. "Private clinics are refusing to replace the implants free of charge" (http://tinyurl.com/7w9o556). Looking at Attwood Solicitors website I found that those with the PIP implants can put a claim in for compensation but it's not guaranteed. They also directed me to other websites for 'patient advice'.
I looked at three of the five websites that they advised the patients to look at;
- Harley Medical Group quoted The Chief Medical Officer (Dame Sally Davies), she said, "there is not enough evidence to recommend routine explantation (removal) of these breast implants". HMG have decided to find out which of their patients were given PIP implants and deal with those people, but have decided not to give free removals. (http://tinyurl.com/6prsrpq).
-Surgicare Medical Group have said that they have not been recommended to remove these implants and say they have been monitoring their rupture rates over several years and have not found any data that is a cause for concern. (http://tinyurl.com/6p7c9x9).
-Transform Cosmetic Surgery Group commented saying that they do not have sufficient data of ruptures in the PIP implants to remove them free of charge for their patients. (http://www.transforminglives.co.uk/latest-news.html).
Andrew Lansley said today that "private clinics that fitted implants have a "moral duty" to remove them" and that "the NHS would pay to remove, but not replace, implants if a private clinic refused" the issue with this is for the taxpayer who will then have to foot the bill; but he then said that "if the NHS was forced to remove an implant "the government would pursue private clinics to seek recovery of our costs" (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16523464).
Recently there has been a lot of coverage in the news about PIP (Poly Implant Prothese) breast implants due to "a health scare, after French authorities found a rupture rate of 5% and recommended implants were removed" (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16395244). Poly Implant Prothese was a French firm that "were banned in 2010, after their implants were found to contain industrial grade silicone gel, rather than medical grade" (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16395244). This supposedly led to a higher risk of the implants rupturing.
Andrew Lansley, the Health Secretary for England, launched a review, at the beginning of the week, due to the conflicting evidence for the rupture rates of the PIP implants. Some sources claimed that there was only a "1% (rupture rate) - in line with other implants" (statistics from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16395244). Fergus Walsh, the medical correspondent for the BBC, has written an article at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16401016 about warnings of the statistics that have been produced and how some of it can be misleading due to the way that the data has been set out and collected.
In essence, this story is about the peoples reaction to the story. "40,000 British women have been fitted with the implants" (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16395244). Essentially, the data that Andrew Lansley is trying to get is the data that these women want to know; how many British women have had ruptured implants?
The options aren't very good at the moment for the women who have had the PIP implants. "Private clinics are refusing to replace the implants free of charge" (http://tinyurl.com/7w9o556). Looking at Attwood Solicitors website I found that those with the PIP implants can put a claim in for compensation but it's not guaranteed. They also directed me to other websites for 'patient advice'.
I looked at three of the five websites that they advised the patients to look at;
- Harley Medical Group quoted The Chief Medical Officer (Dame Sally Davies), she said, "there is not enough evidence to recommend routine explantation (removal) of these breast implants". HMG have decided to find out which of their patients were given PIP implants and deal with those people, but have decided not to give free removals. (http://tinyurl.com/6prsrpq).
-Surgicare Medical Group have said that they have not been recommended to remove these implants and say they have been monitoring their rupture rates over several years and have not found any data that is a cause for concern. (http://tinyurl.com/6p7c9x9).
-Transform Cosmetic Surgery Group commented saying that they do not have sufficient data of ruptures in the PIP implants to remove them free of charge for their patients. (http://www.transforminglives.co.uk/latest-news.html).
Andrew Lansley said today that "private clinics that fitted implants have a "moral duty" to remove them" and that "the NHS would pay to remove, but not replace, implants if a private clinic refused" the issue with this is for the taxpayer who will then have to foot the bill; but he then said that "if the NHS was forced to remove an implant "the government would pursue private clinics to seek recovery of our costs" (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16523464).
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