There is an ongoing safety issue (read: scandal) in France regarding the use of non-medical grade silicone in breast prosthesis implants.This is a scandal that has been playing out now for about four years. There is much information available in both English and French. There is a good summary on Wikipedia.There were and are multiple issues here:
The first is lawsuits which are ongoing in various countries. However, with the company liquidated it is not clear how much (if any) money can be recouped from them. The deep pocket payers may turn out to be governments (read: taxpayers).
The next issue was (and is) to evaluate the current and potential medical problems that these implants can produce. They include rupture which can induce lumps, inflammation and irritation in the breast or axilla. Some reports suggest a rupture rate of 5-8% with the PIP implants compared to a 1% rate for other breast implants.
Several cases of breast tumors have been noted in women with these implants though it is not totally clear that the implant increased the cancer risk. There are also are reports of adenocarcinoma, lymphoma, lung cancer, AML and anaplastic large cell lymphoma.Read more;
