Breast implant fears hit S. America
Source: Agencies |
December 28, 2011, Wednesday
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Print Edition
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FEAR and anger are growing among women with breast implants in Latin America, a key market for the bankrupt French firm that used industrial silicone to make cheap prostheses linked to health risks.
The implants at the center of the scandal were made by the now defunct Poly Implant Prothese and appear to have an unusually high rupture rate, prompting French authorities to urge women to have them removed.
Some 300,000 PIP implants, used in cosmetic surgery to enhance breast size or replace lost breast tissue, were sold worldwide, tens of thousands of them in Latin America where demand for cosmetic procedures is high.
Colombian television presenter Alexandra Correa is desperate to know if her 10-year old implants are safe or not. She has been seeking an answer from her surgeon for the past few weeks but he hasn't returned her calls. Now he's on holiday.
"I'm so worried," said Correa, 32, who paid about US$2,200 for her breast enlargements. "I can't leave my health to chance. Vanity comes at a price, but life is worth much more. It's preferable for women to have breasts the size of mosquito bites than larger ones ridden with cancer," she told Reuters on Monday.
In neighboring Venezuela, where implants are so popular they are sometimes even given to girls by their parents as a 15th birthday gift or as prizes in fund-raising raffles, there were frissons of anxiety among the many thousands of surgically enhanced women.
"I've had this prosthesis for nearly 10 years now, since my third child, and until now I'd always felt really good about it. It makes me feel young again, a woman not just a mother," said Martha, 47, a teacher who like many Venezuelans was relaxing at the beach with her family over Christmas.
"But since I've been reading all these stories about the French prostheses bursting and giving you cancer, I must admit it's awakened some fears. I've no idea what make mine are, but I'll be checking with my doctor as soon as I'm back in Caracas after the holiday."
France has been investigating possible links to cancer from the gel used in PIP implants but has found no evidence so far. The PIP implants were banned in South American countries such as Brazil, Argentina and Colombia in 2010.
Argentine lawyer Virginia Luna, 34, is demanding clinics offer women like her replacement implants free of charge.
"I'm representing a group of 50 women, but there are more and more of us all the time," she said.
"In some cases we've already settled out-of-court and the insurance of the surgeons who operated on us paid."
The implants at the center of the scandal were made by the now defunct Poly Implant Prothese and appear to have an unusually high rupture rate, prompting French authorities to urge women to have them removed.
Some 300,000 PIP implants, used in cosmetic surgery to enhance breast size or replace lost breast tissue, were sold worldwide, tens of thousands of them in Latin America where demand for cosmetic procedures is high.
Colombian television presenter Alexandra Correa is desperate to know if her 10-year old implants are safe or not. She has been seeking an answer from her surgeon for the past few weeks but he hasn't returned her calls. Now he's on holiday.
"I'm so worried," said Correa, 32, who paid about US$2,200 for her breast enlargements. "I can't leave my health to chance. Vanity comes at a price, but life is worth much more. It's preferable for women to have breasts the size of mosquito bites than larger ones ridden with cancer," she told Reuters on Monday.
In neighboring Venezuela, where implants are so popular they are sometimes even given to girls by their parents as a 15th birthday gift or as prizes in fund-raising raffles, there were frissons of anxiety among the many thousands of surgically enhanced women.
"I've had this prosthesis for nearly 10 years now, since my third child, and until now I'd always felt really good about it. It makes me feel young again, a woman not just a mother," said Martha, 47, a teacher who like many Venezuelans was relaxing at the beach with her family over Christmas.
"But since I've been reading all these stories about the French prostheses bursting and giving you cancer, I must admit it's awakened some fears. I've no idea what make mine are, but I'll be checking with my doctor as soon as I'm back in Caracas after the holiday."
France has been investigating possible links to cancer from the gel used in PIP implants but has found no evidence so far. The PIP implants were banned in South American countries such as Brazil, Argentina and Colombia in 2010.
Argentine lawyer Virginia Luna, 34, is demanding clinics offer women like her replacement implants free of charge.
"I'm representing a group of 50 women, but there are more and more of us all the time," she said.
"In some cases we've already settled out-of-court and the insurance of the surgeons who operated on us paid."
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