Founder of breast implant company under arrest
Source: Agencies |
January 27, 2012, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
The former head of a French company at the center of a breast implant scandal affecting tens of thousands of women worldwide was arrested yesterday in southeast France.
Jean-Claude Mas, who founded and ran the now-defunct French company Poly Implant Prothese, was detained as part of a judicial investigation in Marseille into manslaughter and involuntary injuries, said an official.
Investigating judge Annaick Le Goff opened the investigation after a woman filed a lawsuit in the wake of the 2010 death from cancer of her daughter who had received a suspect implant. As many as 3,000 other complaints by other alleged victims have been taken into account.
The implants have been removed from the marketplace in several countries in and beyond Europe amid fears they could rupture and leak silicone.
Mas is on Interpol's most-wanted list, but the international police agency said its "red notice" was issued in June at the request of Costa Rica, where he faces a drink driving charge.
Mas, 72, was detained shortly before dawn during a search of a residence in the Mediterranean coastal town of Six Fours Les Plages, southwest of Toulon, a police official said.
Authorities worldwide have been scrambling to strike a proper response to the scandal, notably concerning who will pay to remove the implants made with industrial-grade silicone instead of medical-grade gel - or if the implants need to invariably come out.
Mas ran PIP until it was closed in March 2010.
Jean-Claude Mas, who founded and ran the now-defunct French company Poly Implant Prothese, was detained as part of a judicial investigation in Marseille into manslaughter and involuntary injuries, said an official.
Investigating judge Annaick Le Goff opened the investigation after a woman filed a lawsuit in the wake of the 2010 death from cancer of her daughter who had received a suspect implant. As many as 3,000 other complaints by other alleged victims have been taken into account.
The implants have been removed from the marketplace in several countries in and beyond Europe amid fears they could rupture and leak silicone.
Mas is on Interpol's most-wanted list, but the international police agency said its "red notice" was issued in June at the request of Costa Rica, where he faces a drink driving charge.
Mas, 72, was detained shortly before dawn during a search of a residence in the Mediterranean coastal town of Six Fours Les Plages, southwest of Toulon, a police official said.
Authorities worldwide have been scrambling to strike a proper response to the scandal, notably concerning who will pay to remove the implants made with industrial-grade silicone instead of medical-grade gel - or if the implants need to invariably come out.
Mas ran PIP until it was closed in March 2010.
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