THE NUMBER of Cypriot women that have used the controversial PIP or M breast implants appears to be on the rise, the health minister revealed yesterday.
Latest figures have established that 18 women have confirmed usage with 60 who unaware of what type of implant was used on them, according to Health Minister Stavros Malas.
“Up till now around 18 cases have been recorded, up till last night [Thursday night] it was 16, that have used the PIP and the M-implants, the latter being produced by Dutch company Rofil medical,” said Malas.
PIP and M-implants, Malas said on Thursday, ‘are one and the same,’ as it turned out that the French PIP implants were allegedly re-branded and sold by a Dutch company registered in Cyprus.
Alerts were issued by Dutch regulators to cosmetic clinics using the implants that Rofil had allegedly bought PIP’s fraudulent implants and re-sold them internationally under the name M-implant.
Apart from the 18 women, Malas said that around 40 women have been operated on by two plastic surgeons in Cyprus that used such implants, but these women are not aware what kind of implants were used.
Concerns also surround a third category of women – around 20 of them – who were operated on by other surgeons, within Cyprus and abroad, and they too are not aware of what type of implant was used, he said.
Malas urged women who were operated on abroad to get in touch with them as there are some who underwent the surgery in countries such as Syria.
“As far as we know all the women should have a card on them that was given to them by their surgeon that says on them what kind of implant was used,” said Malas, adding that some of them clearly were not informed.
So far it has been found that the implants have not been used in public hospitals.
The Health Ministry’s next step is to meet up with the surgeons next week as it is ‘unacceptable to have to chase the facts to see what was implanted and in whom.’
Malas has not ruled out initiating criminal proceedings against Rofil Medical in Cyprus, but said that this decision rests with the Attorney-general.
Quizzed on the fact that earlier in the week when the news first broke internationally he reassured that the implants had not been used in Cyprus, he admitted that they were misinformed to begin with and if there was a way to record all the implants that are used within the body in Cyprus there would not be this gap [in information].
More than 300,000 women worldwide are believed to have been fitted with PIP silicone implants, which at the height of its business was the third largest manufacturer of breast implants in the world.
The UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) announced that its independent UK tests found no evidence of chemical toxicity or the implants potentially causing cancer to victims.
However, the French results have confirmed that the implants are more prone to rupture and that more testing is needed on the genotoxicity (potential for cancer) was required.
Women who may have them should call their personal plastic surgeon and the Nicosia General Hospital on the helpline on 22 604288.
