The reaction of an Argentinian who could be compensated for PIP prostheses: “I am grateful that the matter is progressing, but I regret having operated”

The decision of the Paris Court of Appeal to ratify the responsibility of the German certifier TÜV Rheinland in the case of fraudulent breast prostheses Poly Implant Prosthesis (PIP) affecting 500 thousand women in the world (including about 15 thousand Argentines) has caused a stir : the sentence says that the French company will have to compensate nearly 400,000 victims worldwide.

“That the cause advances in France is an incentive. It is finally saying “thank you, my God!” because these prostheses are a time bomb and we don’t know how many women still don’t know they have it “, he said Infobae Graciela González (64), one of the Argentinian victims of these breast implants. He received them in 2008 and two years later they broke – literally – inside his body.

The lawyer was also optimistic about the French decision Virgo moon, sponsor of affected people in Argentina who, in 2011, opened a common cause. “At the moment, the individual examinations (on medical documentation) of about 25,000 women in the world are underway and in this group there are no Argentinian victims. This is the last step of the process because all the instances have been won, but anyway, as there are a lot of groups, not all of them leave at the same time ”. And he added that he predicts that all cases “could suffer the same fate as the first plaintiff group.” advanced.

He also explained that all the candidates are not in the same state, therefore “when the courts decide, the amounts of compensation will not be the same for everyone”.

In this sense, he recalled how these prostheses worked on the national market: “The entry into the local market for these prostheses was almost exclusive because they were cheap. Being very cheap and coming from France, many came “he explained.

The figure may be uncertain because It has not yet been established exactly how many of these prostheses have been placed in Argentina. because “at that time, there was no traceability of the prostheses, and the ANMAT in fact did not identify any, because the women did not receive the label of the mark in most cases “, specifies the lawyer.

From the search for a better appearance to the greatest regret of his life

Graciela Gonzalez (64) is from the Mataderos neighborhood and had breast implants placed in 2008. The first time around, everything seemed to be fine until, shortly after, the nightmare began. “Everything seemed normal, but after two years I started to feel discomfort, like I had something strange in the lymph nodes. I looked at myself in the mirror and saw them distorted and sometimes they hurt me, ”explained the woman the moment she knew something was wrong.

“I don’t know when it happened or what to do, but they broke down. When I noticed something was wrong I went to get checked out and They asked me for an MRI. This study found that the prostheses were broken and that the silicone was spread in the lymph nodes, under the armpit, in the arms and on the chest. “, Remembers Graciela still saddened because the operation to remove them was not immediate, as expected.

Knowing that she was living with danger produced endless feelings that increased when she began to learn about PIPs, French silicones, like the ones she had.

“At that time, I was very scared because I knew that the prostheses I had were adulterated prostheses, PIPs. Virginia told me that when I started asking for help and came to see her knowing that other women were going through the same thing. During the first consultation with the doctor who implanted them, he only told me that they were French and I, ignorant, thought that it would be good. That they were of good quality ”, he admits,

Graciela’s fear was mixed with personal frustration because her first granddaughter was a baby and she couldn’t pick her up or play with her. I felt like I didn’t like being a grandmother. Time continued to pass and with it the physical pain increased. Despite this, her case was not considered a medical emergency. It was also the emotional trigger.

“The doctor who operated on me was erased. I had the prostheses broken inside me, scattered around, and they still haven’t operated on. Prepaid didn’t. No one took matters into their own hands and there was no way to take them away from me, I couldn’t find a solution and the desperation was such that I even thought about killing myself because I couldn’t continue like that … (breaks). Emotionally, it was terrible for me. I regret it so much! “, account.

It was thanks to the intervention of lawyer Luna that she was able to move her case forward from a legal and medical point of view, but it took time.

“It was not until 2015 that we managed to have an operation to remove them. They took them out and cleaned everything up. I was able to do it because it was my children who took matters into their own hands and helped me. The operation was covered by the prepaid thanks to my lawyer, Virginia (Luna, because before they didn’t give me any money, ”she explains.

She and some 300 Argentinian victims received initial compensation, but they still have a long way to go to obtain final compensation, which seems to be shortened now that in Paris the courts have ruled in favor of women.

“Personally, I am very sorry to have had surgery. I would have been happier if I stayed with my natural breasts, as they were, but trying to be prettier I suffered a lot, ”concludes Graciela.

The day aesthetic medicine was defeated

The first thing that emerged was alarming: the PIP brand was making breast implants with unapproved silicone gel (or implants made with cheap industrial fillers) for medical use instead of using the Nusil gel it was licensed and claimed to use. Over time, they have penetrated the bodies of thousands of women.

It is estimated that one million fraudulent PIP prostheses were manufactured and sold worldwide between 2001 and 2010, using ineffective certification company controls TÜV Rheinland. In Argentina, they were marketed between 2007 and 2010, the year in which ANMAT banned their sale and use. It was a turning point in the controls of implants and medical devices entering the country.

The road to justice began in 2013, when the German company was found guilty of “failure to fulfill its monitoring and surveillance obligations” and had to compensate six distributors and nearly 1,700 victims.

Then, in 2015, the Court of Appeal of Aix en Provence, in the south of France, reversed this judgment and released the German certifier from all responsibility. However, in 2018, the Supreme Court overturned the decision and referred the case back to the Paris Court of Appeal.

It took 11 years for what was considered a great scandal in aesthetic medicine to begin to have legal results. On the Argentine afternoon of Thursday, May 20, the Paris court paved the way for the thousands of people affected by Poly Implant Prosthesis.

In favor of some of these women was the sentence: will be compensated after ratification by the Paris Court of Appeal the responsibility of the German certification company given that carelessly validated these implants as safe whose silicone has infiltrated the bodies of thousands of patients, affecting the lymph nodes, lungs and other organs. Other side effects included pain in extremity, depression, and fatigue.

Now, in the latter case raised by some 2,500 affected women, TÜV Rheinland will have to compensate each of the victims 3,000 euros.

This decision has not yet reached the Argentines who, for more than a decade, have been fighting a court battle.

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