The court of appeal of Aix-en-Provence (southern France) will decide on Thursday on the responsibility of certifying PIP breast implants , the German TÜV Rheinland Group and its subsidiary TÜV France, a verdict that could lead million euros compensation.
In the first instance, another French court found that the certifying company "missed its obligations regarding control, prudence, vigilance" in the exercise of their duties and ordered the parent company and its French subsidiary to "repair the material damage and intangible caused to distributors and physical and / or psychological harm caused to carry brand PIP breast implants ".
In this process six distributors (Brazilian, Bulgarian, Mexican Italian, Romanian and Syrian) claimed to TÜV 28 million euros in compensation. And more than 1,600 women carrying the PIP (1,500 Colombian, 70 French and more than fifty British) prosthesis demanding 16,000 euros each, or about 25 million euros.
In total, 53 million euros of damages are claimed to TÜV, never checked the content of the prosthesis firm Poly Implant Prothèse (PIP) that was used for years a silicone gel not approved for medical use, causing problems for thousands of women. The certification was limited to a simple check of the documents the manufacturer.
The appeal court's decision could have huge economic repercussions, as the six distributors and 1,700 women plaintiffs in the proceedings at first instance were added hundreds of applicants. In addition, two other processes, in which 25,000 women are demanding, are ongoing in France.
The scandal of PIP breast implants was discovered in March 2010 . The factory used a silicone gel not approved for medical use gel instead of Nusil authorized signature and declared use.
The number of carriers of prostheses PIP is estimated at 30,000 in France and in the world, many Latin American hundreds of thousands .
In December 2013, a French court sentenced the founder of PIP, Jean-Claude Mas, and several other executives of the firm to jail for the scandal.
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