Interpol seeks arrest of chief of French faulty breast implant firm

Dec 24, 2011, 12:56 GMT

Paris - Interpol is seeking the arrest of the founder of the French firm at the centre of a health scare over faulty breast implants, but said Saturday that its red notice was 'totally unconnected' to the company.

In a statement Saturday, Interpol said its notice was issued at the request of Costa Rica in June 2011 for Jean-Claude Mas on criminal charges related to alleged drunk driving in June 2010.

France's Health Ministry had on Friday recommended that the 30,000 women who received the faulty implants from Poly Implant Prothese (PIP) would be offered surgery to have them removed as a preventive measure and the cost would be covered by the state.

Health Minister Xavier Bertrand stressed the recommendation was 'not urgent in character,' but it should be proposed to all those who have the implant made by PIP, 'even without clinical signs of a deterioration of the implant.'

The implants triggered a scare in France after a 53-year-old woman with the implants died of a rare form of breast lymphoma in November. In total, eight cases of cancer were reported in women who have the implants, which were taken off the market in March 2010.

Worldwide, there are an estimated 300,000 wearers of PIP implants. Up to 40,000 British women are estimated to have the implants.

But Britain's Health Department said it had no evidence of a cancer link of an increased risk of rupture.

'While we respect the French government's decision, no other country is taking similar steps because we currently have no evidence to support it,' chief medical officer Sally Davies was quoted as saying by the Press Association.

PIP was liquidated after an investigation in 2010 found the company had been using a cheap industrial silicone in the implants and they were more likely to tear and leak the gel into surrounding tissue.

Interpol said the red notice has been on its website since June. It has 'only generated international interest because of the recent controversy surrounding Mr Jean-Claude Mas and the potential health risk to women allegedly posed by his company's breast implants,' it said.