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| Jean-Claude Mas was arrested and could face manslaughter charges |
The
ex-chief executive of a French company that was a world-leading manufacturer of
breast implants has been arrested and could face charges of manslaughter in the
wake of an international health scandal.
Jean-Claude
Mas, founder of Poly Implant Prosthese (PIP), was arrested early Thursday by
French police at his home in southern France. Mas will be held for 48 hours
while investigators determine whether they can charge him with involuntary
manslaughter and causing injury, police sources told Reuters.
Between
400,000 and 500,000 women around the world are estimated to have received
implants made by PIP, which was shut down in 2010 after regulators discovered
it was using substandard industrial grade silicon as a cost-saving measure.
Mas,
speaking out for the first time in December, admitted to using the lower grade
silicon, but denied they posed any potential health risks.
WHO weighs
in
The World
Health Organization (WHO) published a note on its website last week encouraging
recipients of PIP implants to follow the health advice of their national health
organizations.
"While
the rupture rate of PIP prostheses was higher than expected in France, other
national authorities reported varying rates," the statement said on the
WHO website.
France,
Germany and the Czech Republic have all recommended that the implants be
removed. The UK's National Health Service has announced that it does not think
the implants must be removed, but allowed that concerned women could still do
so.
"The
NHS will support removal of PIP implants if the patient has concerns and, with
her doctor, she decides that it is right to do so," NHS medical director
Sir Bruce Keogh wrote on its website.
According
to various national estimates some 42,000 women in Britain, more than 30,000 in
France, 25,000 Brazilians, 9,000 Australians and 4,000 Italians received the
implants.
In France,
some 2,700 women have filed complaints against Mas, according to Reuters.
Author: Stuart Tiffen
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