BBC News - Breast implants: PIP's Jean-Claude Mas gets jail sentence

The boss of a French company which distributed defective breast implants around the world has been sentenced to four years in prison for fraud.

Jean-Claude Mas, the founder of the PIP company, was also fined 75,000 euros (£63,000) by a court in Marseille.
He will remain at liberty until a French court hears an appeal lodged by his lawyer.

PIP's sale of faulty implants caused a global health scare which affected about 300,000 women in 65 countries.

The company was found to have used sub-standard silicone gel - rather than medical-grade silicone - which the result that many implants ruptured.

Apart from Mas, four other former PIP executives were convicted and given lesser sentences.With more than 5,000 women registered as plaintiffs in the case, and about 300 lawyers, the trial was considered one of the biggest in French legal history.

The health scare came to public attention in 2011 when the French government recommended that women have PIP implants removed due to an abnormally high rupture rate.

There was confusion as British health authorities said there was no need for routine removal. However, they later agreed to replace the implants to put women's minds at rest.

The issue of whether the sub-standard silicone used in the implants posed any danger was not resolved by the trial, AFP news agency notes.

'Under-reported'
Mas, 74, showed no sign of emotion as sentence was passed. His lawyer, Yves Haddad, blamed the severity of the sentence on pressure generated by the media, and said he would appeal, meaning that Mas will remain at liberty until the outcome of a further hearing.

He and the others had all admitted to fraud.

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