Fw: Europe plans tighter controls on breast implants ~ British Medical Journal

[Guest guest]

Hallelujah! They are getting smarter about this, finally!

Patty

From: " Ilena Rose " <ilena@...>

Sent: Friday, March 30, 2001 3:26 PM

Subject: Europe plans tighter controls on breast implants ~ British Medical

Journal

Bravo, Bravo to ALL of our

European Activists!

Please go to the website if you would like to respond to this article.

Ilena ~~~

http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/322/7289/754/a

BMJ 2001;322:754 (Ý31ÝMarchÝ)

Europe plans tighter controls on breast implants

Rory Brussels

Tighter controls on breast implant operations are being planned by the

European Commission to protect the health and safety of patients.

The initiative is being taken after a lengthy campaign by the Silicone

Support UK group and the European parliament to persuade European and

national authorities to enforce stricter standards on cosmetic surgery

operations.

Erkki Liikanen, the enterprise commissioner, told MEPs last week that he

intends to use existing EU legislation on medical devices to ensure that

the quality and safety of implants meet the highest possible safety

standards.

In addition, he wants to see potential patients fully informed by someone

other than the surgeon of the possible dangers from an implant, so that

they do not give their consent to the operation without knowing all the

facts.

He has made clear that the European Union would be able to use some of the

billions of pounds in its research programme over the next five years to

carry out large scale studies to establish the health risks of implants.

These could be accompanied by close monitoring of patients for several

months or even years after their operation.

ish Labour MEP Bill , who has campaigned over the past six

years for EU action to close existing loopholes, has welcomed the

commission¼s initiatives, which will be formally tabled in early April.

" This is a watershed in our campaign, " he said. " Europe has recognised

that there is a problem with silicone implants and is going to do

something about it. This is a victory for the hundreds of women throughout

the UK and Europe who have worked tirelessly to make sure that other women

do not repeat their painful experience of implant surgery. "

He would also like to see a comprehensive register of qualified plastic

surgeons and a mandatory record of all implant operations. Between 1993

and 1999, 100 000 implant operations were registered in the United

Kingdom, and throughout the European Union the figure is about 150 000

annually.

The Association of the Medical Devices and Technologies Industry in Europe

(EUCOMED) has called for a balanced and objective discussion on the issue

and has promised to continue cooperating with national and EU authorities

to guarantee the highest quality and safety of products on the market.