Breast implant scare prompts calls for tighter regulation

As the PIP breast implant scandal intensifies, there are growing calls for tighter EU regulations governing safety standards in medical devices.
 
Unlike prescription medicines, they currently only require a European quality mark before being put on the market.
 
It was obtained by the now-defunct French firm at the centre of the scare.
 
But in Marseille, one lawyer says TUV Rheinland, the German certification body that checked PIP’s products for years, always warned that it was about to visit.
 
“In 17 years, no unexpected checks were made,” said Laurent Gaudon who is representing a number of French women fitted with PIP implants. He claims PIP was not requested to carry out a single test.
 
“You have to ask…if TUV ever saw an implant,” he said.
 
As legal action multiplies in France and elsewhere, TUV itself says it is suing PIP.
 
The scandal erupted amid warnings that cheap industrial silicone used in the firm’s implants has an increased risk of rupture. 

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