Scotland ‘must hold public inquiry into breast implants’

WOMEN caught in the breast implant scandal have called on the Scottish Government to set up a public inquiry into how thousands of them in Scotland received faulty silicone implants.

The inquiry is being demanded by the PIP Implants Scotland Campaign Group, the first UK group to be established to fight on behalf of up to an estimated 4,000 women who received the faulty implants.

They are demanding answers to a series of questions and believe warnings may have been ignored by private clinics.

Campaign spokeswoman Trisha Devine said: “I think I speak for every woman going through this nightmare when I say that since I found out about this in December, my life has been turned upside down. Not a moment goes by when I don’t worry about the implants that are inside me.

“None of us asked for this to happen and the reaction we’ve had from our clinics has been frankly disgraceful. Every woman with PIPs [poly implant prosthese implants] is worried and wants action to have these things taken out. That’s why we’ll be campaigning to make sure that every woman gets equal and fair treatment from their clinics.

“We are victims of a scandal that allowed sub-standard products to end up inside us.”

Ms Devine, 34, has not had any health problems relating to her implants but said she is worried about the procedure she had in 2004.

About 40,000 British women have received PIP implants which were filled with non-medical grade silicone intended for use in mattresses.

Some private clinics in the UK have offered to remove the implants free if customers have had problems with them. Transform, which has just over 4,000 patients in the UK with the implants, is the latest clinic to offer their removal.

The campaign group said clinics have had to be “dragged kicking and screaming to offer women help”.

When contacted last night, Transform declined to comment.

The Scottish group wants to know the number of women who have been affected by the issue in Scotland and why warnings from doctors were not acted upon “quickly enough”.

The press conference was held at Thompsons Solicitors in Glasgow, which has set up a help-line offering free legal advice to the victims. Partner at the firm, Patrick McGuire, who represents the group, said: “We are calling for a Scottish public inquiry, not as a matter of politics but a practical issue borne of experience.

“We have been involved in lots of campaigns for public inquiries and our experience is that the Scottish Parliament has shown itself quick to listen and react to incidents like this, in stark contrast to Westminster.

“We want the Scottish Parliament to do what it has done in the past. Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon has agreed to meet with the group and we look forward to the discussions.”

In letter to Ms Sturgeon, Scottish Labour’s shadow cabinet secretary for health, Jackie Baillie, gave her “wholehearted” support for an inquiry.

However, a Scottish Government spokeswoman said that a UK-wide inquiry was under way and that it was involved: “We are supportive of the PIP Implants Scotland Group – we have been very clear that private healthcare providers have an obligation to provide their patients with the same level of care as our NHS.”