Police detain PIP breast implant boss

French police are continuing to question the head of a firm that supplied non-medical grade silicone breast implants to tens of thousands of women.

Jean-Claude Mas, 72, and another executive of the now defunct PIP company, were arrested early on Thursday morning at his home at Six-Fours-les-Plages on France’s southern coast.

They are the first people to be taken into custody since the scandal erupted worldwide in December.

The pair are facing charges of involuntary manslaughter and causing bodily harm.

With some 300,000 implants sold, many people fear they are at risk. Health authorities across Europe have stressed that PIP’s products carry no proven link to cancer, but surgeons report that they have abnormally high rupture rates.

Lawyers and victim support groups for women in France who have filed complaints have welcomed Mas’ arrest. He has given several interviews to French media and has been quoted as deriding those suing him as being motivated only by money.

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