Free breast implant removals for PIP victims in Colombia
The Colombian government said it will pick up the tab for breast implant removal surgery, for women with PIP implants. (Photo: flickr Donaldsonplasticsurgery)
By MANUEL RUEDA
Channel: Latin American Affairs
Colombia has become the latest country to offer free breast implant removals to women who acquired risky silicon implants made by French company PIP, following in the footsteps of France, Spain, and the United Kingdom.
According to Colombia’s National Plastic Surgery Association, some 16,000 women in the country are walking around with PIP implants, a situation that prompted the Social Protection Ministry to declare that these implants are a “public health problem.”
Based in France, PIP reportedly sold 300,000 silicon implants to plastic surgeons around the world.
The company was shut down in March 2010 after French health officials found that its implants were far more likely to rupture in women’s bodies than implants made by other firms.
PIP allegedly made its implants with industrial grade silicon that is generally used in mattresses, in order to make the product more affordable.
Since it was shut down, the company has also faced accusations that its implants cause breast cancer, although health officials in France and the UK have found no evidence to back those claims.
Nevertheless, the French government recommended earlier this year that all women with PIP implants have them removed as a precautionary measure. The British government, meanwhile, has taken a different approach, arguing that in some cases the risks of implant removal surgery could be greater than the health risks posed by the PIP implants.
In Colombia, women with PIP implants will be entitled to free removal surgery, but the government has said that it will not cover the cost of replacement implants.
However, Colombia’s El Tiempo newspaper reports that surgeons who used PIP implants on their patients are offering substantial discounts of up to 60 percent for those who want a new boob job.
After all, implants are still quite popular in the South American country.
