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HEALTH

France launches mega-trial over breast implants

France launched one its biggest-ever trials on Wednesday as five managers from company PIP faced charges of selling faulty breast implants that sparked a global health scare.

France launches mega-trial over breast implants
File photo: Webhotographeer

More than 5,000 women registered as plaintiffs in the case, which sees the defendants including PIP founder Jean-Claude Mas charged with aggravated fraud for using industrial-grade silicone in implants.

An estimated 300,000 women in 65 countries are believed to have received the implants, which some health authorities say are twice as likely to rupture as other brands.

The trial, which began around 10.30 am local time on Wednesday, has been moved to a congress centre in the southern city of Marseille to accommodate the hundreds
of plaintiffs and lawyers attending.

The defendants face up to five years in prison and the trial is set to last until May 17th.

As the trial began, Mas was booed when he took to the stand to state his name and profession.

He had earlier arrived, accompanied by his lawyer, Yves Haddad, who chided reporters for their treatment of his client, who will turn 74 next month.

"Whatever happened, what you are doing to a 74-year-old man is not dignified," he said.

Hundreds of women who were given the faulty implants are expected to attend the trial in the 700-seat congress centre hall or three other rooms where more than 800 people will be able to watch video transmissions.

Angela Mauro, a 47-year-old plaintiff, said she hoped the court would treat the women with the same respect accorded other victims of medical malpractice.

"I expect us to be considered as victims and not just as women who wanted implants," said Mauro, whose implants ruptured twice, requiring her to interrupt work for treatments.

News of the faulty implants in 2011 sparked fears worldwide, but health officials in various countries have said they are not toxic and do not increase the risk of breast cancer.

A 10-year case study has been launched in France to determine the long-term effects.

More than 4,000 women have reported ruptures and in France alone 15,000 have had the PIP implants replaced.

Mas, a former travelling salesman who got his start in the medical business by selling pharmaceuticals, founded PIP in 1991 to take advantage of the booming market for cosmetic implants.

He built the company into the third-largest global supplier but came under the spotlight when plastic surgeons began reporting an unusual number of ruptures in his products.

Health authorities later discovered he was saving millions of euros by allegedly using industrial-grade gel in 75 percent of the implants. PIP's implants were banned and the company eventually liquidated.

PIP had exported more than 80 percent of its implants, with about half going to Latin America, about a third to other countries in western Europe, some 10 percent to eastern Europe and the rest to the Middle East and Asia.

The others on trial with Mas are PIP's former general manager, Claude Couty, quality control director Hannelore Font, technical director Loic Gossart and product director Thierry Brinon.

Some of the defendants, including Mas, have also been charged in separate and ongoing manslaughter and financial fraud investigations into the scandal.

The court is to begin Wednesday by studying a number of defence requests for the case to be thrown out, including one on the basis that this trial is going ahead before the other probes into more serious charges have concluded.

Some lawyers for the plaintiffs are also expected to request the case be expanded to include others they claim should be held responsible, such as plastic surgeons, public health authorities and a German safety standards firm that gave the implants the go-ahead.

A court source said the first two days of the trial are expected to be taken up with such requests.

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HEALTH

Lengthy waiting times at Danish hospitals not going away yet: minister

Danish Minister for the Interior and Health Sophie Løhde has warned that, despite increasing activity at hospitals, it will be some time before current waiting lists are reduced.

Lengthy waiting times at Danish hospitals not going away yet: minister

The message comes as Løhde was set to meet with officials from regional health authorities on Wednesday to discuss the progress of an acute plan for the Danish health system, launched at the end of last year in an effort to reduce a backlog of waiting times which built up during the coronavirus crisis.

An agreement with regional health authorities on an “acute” spending plan to address the most serious challenges faced by the health services agreed in February, providing 2 billion kroner by the end of 2024.

READ ALSO: What exactly is wrong with the Danish health system?

The national organisation for the health authorities, Danske Regioner, said to newspaper Jyllands-Posten earlier this week that progress on clearing the waiting lists was ahead of schedule.

Some 245,300 operations were completed in the first quarter of this year, 10 percent more than in the same period in 2022 and over the agreed number.

Løhde said that the figures show measures from the acute plan are “beginning to work”.

“It’s positive but even though it suggests that the trend is going the right way, we’re far from our goal and it’s important to keep it up so that we get there,” she said.

“I certainly won’t be satisfied until waiting times are brought down,” she said.

“As long as we are in the process of doing postponed operations, we will unfortunately continue to see a further increase [in waiting times],” Løhde said.

“That’s why it’s crucial that we retain a high activity this year and in 2024,” she added.

Although the government set aside 2 billion kroner in total for the plan, the regional authorities expect the portion of that to be spent in 2023 to run out by the end of the summer. They have therefore asked for some of the 2024 spending to be brought forward.

Løhde is so far reluctant to meet that request according to Jyllands-Posten.

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