Reports Indicate 'Hundreds' of Austrian Women Had PIP Implants

Hundreds of Austrian women, much more than the eight as initially thought, could have likely had unsafe French-made breast implants in cheap operations in Eastern Europe, a press report said Sunday.

The official number of women affected by the scandal is eight, but this does not cover "probably hundreds" who had operations in places such as Hungary and the Czech Republic, the Presse am Sonntag weekly reported.

Remove Defective PIP Breast Plants, Insist the Dutch
After product's safety violation was reported on breast implants made by defunct French company PIP, Dutch health authorities on Wednesday urged recipients to remove them.

Some 300,000 women in 65 countries are estimated to have had implants made by the now defunct French firm PIP, which allegedly used an illegal industrial-grade gel that investigators say has led to abnormally high rupture rates.

The health scare erupted in France in December, where authorities have already advised 30,000 women to have implants removed, while more than a dozen countries in Europe and in Latin America have urged women to seek regular checkups.

Many Austrian women went east, particularly the Czech Republic and Hungary, for operations that were around a third cheaper than their home country, Die Presse am Sonntag said.

Plastic Surgeons to the Rescue of Women
Many women across the world have breast implants done for augmentation purposes or for firming up.

Eastern Europe has long been a popular destination for people, particularly Austrians and Germans, seeking cheaper plastic surgery than in their home countries, the paper said, with many clinics employing German-speaking staff.

Since the scandal broke, clinics in Austria have been inundated by women worried about their implants, the report said.

1 in 3 Defective Breast Implants Drips of Silicone
One in three faulty PIP breast implants rupture, thus seeping out silicone into women's bodies, warns a new study.

It cited one Vienna plastic surgeon, Thomas Aigner, who has offered to remove implants for free, as saying he had had hundreds of enquiries from "scared patients", with 40 saying they had PIP implants.

"Every single one of them had their operations in the Czech Republic and Hungary," Aigner told the paper.

France Affirms Inquiry on Defected Breast Implants
France guarantees investigation to identify flawed French-made breast implants at the centre of a health scare, when a supplier confirmed selling non-standard silicone to their manufacturer.

The Czech health ministry said earlier this month that its experts had not yet detected any "acute risk of serious health problems" but recommended women with PIP implants to have them removed.

Source-AFP