Medicine watchdog targeted by lawyers

Lawyers for women who are suing UK clinics over health concerns linked to breast implants have launched a stinging attack on the medical regulator.

They accused the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) of failing to take action to deal with complaints and for dismissing health problems linked to the devices.

More than 270 women in the UK intend to sue clinics where they underwent surgery to be fitted with the implants, manufactured by French company Poly Implant Prostheses (PIP), which has now closed.

The implants have been linked to the death of a French woman from a rare form of cancer called anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL), and are implicated in another seven or eight cancer cases.

The implants are filled with an unapproved non-medical grade silicone believed to be made for mattresses.

French authorities are expected to formally announce today that up to 30,000 women who received the implants in France can have them taken out.

But UK regulators have insisted there is no link with cancer and no need for removal.

Figures from the MHRA suggest 84,300 PIP implants have been sold in the UK since 2001.

Based on the assumption that each woman has two implants, at least 42,000 women in the UK could be affected, according to the MHRA.

Kevin Timms, from Garden House Solicitors, has lodged a group action with the High Court and expects a hearing may be held by summer next year.

“We are receiving more inquiries every day - the number of people we are acting for is increasing on a daily basis,” he said.