http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011...chief-interpol
French breast implant chief wanted by Interpol
Jean-Claude Mas is the founder of PIP whose breast implants are at the centre of a global health scare
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Jasmine Coleman
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 24 December 2011 11.30 GMT
Article history
Jean-Claude Mas
Jean-Claude Mas is CEO and founder of the French Poly Implant Prothese (PIP) Photograph: Interpol/EPA
Interpol is seeking the arrest of Jean-Claude Mas, the founder of a French company whose breast implants are at the centre of a global health scare.
The international police agency has issued a so-called red notice for Mas.
His firm Poly Implant Protheses (PIP), which went into administration last year, supplied implants to tens of thousands of women in Europe and South America.
Interpol's website says the 72-year-old is wanted by Costa Rican authorities for crimes involving "life and health" but gives no further details.
France has offered to pay for an estimated 30,000 women in the country to have their PIP implants removed because of risks the products could rupture and leak industrial-grade silicone.
They are filled with an unapproved non-medical grade material - believed to be made for mattresses - and there have been reports that the protective barriers are faulty.
At least 40,000 British women are believed to have the implants.
But the Department of Health said it was not echoing the French advice and that there was "no evidence" of a safety concern.
Chief medical officer Dame Sally Davies said: "Women with PIP implants should not be unduly worried. We have no evidence of a link to cancer or an increased risk of rupture.
"If women are concerned, they should speak to their surgeon. I will be writing to GPs so that they are aware of the concerns women may have and can talk them through with their patients.
"While we respect the French government's decision, no other country is taking similar steps because we currently have no evidence to support it.
"Because of this, and because removing these implants carries risk in itself, we are not advising routine removal of these implants."
Health experts will continue to examine any further evidence from France and across the world, she added.
Figures from the UK medicines watchdog, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority (MHRA), suggest 84,300 PIP implants have been sold in the UK since 2001.
France has reported rupture rates of around 5%, compared with 1% in the UK, according to the MHRA.
A spokesman said: "We therefore do not believe that the associated risks of surgery from breast implant removal can be justified without further evidence.
"We will continue liaising with the French medicines and medical devices regulator and we are awaiting the evidence to support the decision made in France.
"This will be evaluated as a matter of priority by our clinical and toxicological experts and we will issue further advice if necessary.
"In the absence of strong clear evidence to the contrary, we see no reason to alter our current advice that there is no need to routinely remove these PIP breast implants."
However, the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) differed from the government's view and said it considered the French advice "not unreasonable".
BAAPS president Fazel Fatah said: "If women are concerned or experience adverse symptoms they should see their surgeon, to discuss options such as having a scan to determine whether there is any weakening or rupture. If there is, we reiterate our previous recommendations ? to have both implants removed."
More than 270 women in the UK reportedly intend to sue the clinics where they were fitted with PIP implants.
Their lawyers welcomed the recommendation by the French authorities and said they thought the women should have the implants removed.
Mark Harvey, a partner at Hugh James solicitors, which is representing more than 250 women, said some of his clients had complained of inflammation, fatigue and fibromyalgia, a musculoskeletal pain disorder.
He criticised the way the situation had been handled as it had caused panic and suggested the government should order clinics to remove and replace the implants at their cost and not the taxpayer's.
The use of PIP implants are now banned after the manufacturer went into liquidation.
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