Nina Seale argues that the response to the silicone breast implant scandal is bigger than cup sizes.

Recently, the cosmetic surgery industry is receiving a huge amount of scrutiny following the announcement that over 40,000 women may have received unsafe breast implants from the French company PIP. The company used cheaper silicone that had not undergone the rigorous toxicology testing required for their medical certification.

A NHS report claims that the implants do not increase the risk of cancer, but it says that surgeons did note the frequency of PIP implant ruptures. When an implant ruptures it can disfigure the breast with lumpiness causing inflammation and ultimately discomfort.

The various medical companies involved responded with a lot of finger pointing. Many private health organisations, such as the Harley Medical Group and Transform, refused to pay for removing the faulty implants from their patients. This is a new kind of disgrace.

They even went so far as to call themselves the victims. Harley Medical Group’s chairman, Mel Braham, told BBC that the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), their own regulatory authority, has approved these implants and obviously hasn’t done their proper checking. “We’re an innocent victim like everyone else, we’re attempting to do our best for our patients ... We can’t take on this whole thing on our own, especially when it wasn’t our fault.”

This may be true, that they rely too much on the regulations rather than paying attention to the frequency of ruptures in their patients, but there is definitely a point when they should consider cutting their losses. Breast enlargement surgery costs £3,695 at Transform, and apparently the huge price of this surgery does not include a guarantee that the company will help their patients should their products be faulty.

On the other hand, the NHS responded incredibly well to the scandal that has shaken up the industry; saying that they will both remove and replace implants they have given to mastectomy patients and they will remove, but not replace, the implants from women who had surgery done privately.

This is admirable behaviour in light of a difficult situation, because no matter whose fault these problems are, there is a duty of responsibility to any surgeon and medical company when a patienttrusts them with their care. The NHS are encouraging the Harley Medical Group and others to remove implants free of charge, because at the moment companies like Transform are still charging £2,800 for removal surgery.

The cosmetic industry gets a lot of ridicule and mistrust, as cosmetic surgery is seen as a commodity that plays to the insecurities and vanity of wealthy women who are not happy with the way they look. As it is voluntary, some voices in this debate implied that the patients somehow asked for this kind of trouble; as if they should have known what they were getting into. Imagine if there was a similar scandal with a commodity like a sports cars. One of the engine parts was not properly certified and as a result there is an increased risk of breaking down. It is not the fault of the buyer, nor is it fair that the buyer should pay almost as much money as the car to replace the part. This situation is even worse because at least you can decide not to drive your car, but you can’t suddenly decide to stop wearing your breasts!

The comments made from the head of PIP, Jean-Claude Mas, have been deplorable. All the blame centres on PIP, the company that admits that they avoided having their products monitored but deny that the implants increase the risk of rupture.

When asked about the women who reported medical problems since their PIP implants, he dismissed them out of hand: “The victims are only suing to get money … I have nothing to say to them.” Even if this is true, even if the victims do not actually deserve compensation as the effects of rupture do not affect the victim as much as the money implies, there is still a clear moral imbalance that the scare of being sued will stop companies behaving in the same way that PIP have. Being sympathetic to the people who suffered the company’s mistake and acting penitently is the only way that PIP could remedy the situation, if they had any morals.