Jean-Claude Mas, Breast Impant Manufacturer Arrested
A French man who manufactured breast implants that were sent all over the world has been arrested because the implants he made were defective.
Jean-Claude Mas, 72, who founded the breast implant company Poly Implant Prostheses (PIP), was detained by French police on Thursday. Sources told MSNBC that Mas was that target of an investigation into manslaughter and involuntary injuries.
Mas, 72, sold 300,000 of the faulty implants which allegedly contain industrial-grade silicone which is a cheaper and riskier alternative to medical-grade silicone, according to AP.
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Authorities claim the implants are a health risk because of their propensity to rupture and leak into the body.
Officials began looking into the manufacture after a judge opened a probe after a French woman filed a lawsuit blaming her daughter's death on the implant.
Since then, more than 3,000 women have filed complaints against the company, AP has reported.
Previously PIP was shipping the implants to over 60 countries. Some officials are pondering if a mandatory full product recall is warranted, while others say there is not enough data to determine such a decision.
Thousands of women have reportedly already had the questionable implants removed. And German, Czech and French officials encouraged women who have the implants to remove them. British authorities still maintain that the data does not support the findings.
"Our advice remains the same that there is not sufficient evidence to recommend routine removal. We have always recommended that women who are concerned should speak to their surgeon or GP," British Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said in a statement.
It is estimated that 42,000 women in Britain received the implants, along with 30,000 in France and 25,000 in Brazil, according to AP. There is also a report that a single company used the faulty implants in over 14,000 operations.
Silicone-gel implants are not legal in the United States.
"The PIP breast implant scandal is an inevitable result" of an oversight by European officials, and the "paralysis and inability to correct the failings of a flawed system," wrote Richard Horton, the editor of the British medical journal The Lancet.
