Here, in the boob job capital of Britain, there will be many anxious women regretting the day they ever had breast implants.
Up to 50,000 women across the nation have industrial-grade silicone gel in their bodies – a substance suitable for mattresses, not the delicate female form.
How do these women sleep at night as the scandal swirling around the French-made Poly Implant Prothèse (PIP) implants escalates?
Not on their fronts, that’s for sure, for fear of rupturing the jelly-like moulds and leaking lord-knows- what into their bodies.
Having interviewed scores of women over the years about why they chose to go under the knife to super-size their assets the resounding justification is self esteem – or lack of it.
From the skinny double A cup girl who dreams of filling out a double d cup bikini to the mum who wants to pump up her pregnancy flattened cleavage, they insist the motivation is the feel good factor.
It’s not to attract a man, or to bring a smile to the face of him indoors, but simply to satisfy that hard-to-please nagging voice in their heads.
They have the op – a brutal and messy affair – often signing up to dodgy finance deals in the process – so they can spill out of tight dresses and bikinis.
But you can dress up the reasoning however you like, vanity is the main motivator for women subjecting themselves to unnecessary surgery.
And a good number of them clearly didn’t need to bother.
Former Miss Great Britain winner, Gemma Garrett, has a beautiful face and figure, yet forked out £4,500 for a boob job at a private clinic – which used the PIP implants.
Later, one of the implants ruptured, and she had to stump up another £11,000 for it to be removed, but some of the silicone has fused into her breast causing lasting complications.
Gemma probably feels sorry enough for herself without an outpouring of sympathy from me, which is just as well since I reserve my sympathy for the breast cancer patients who were given reconstructive surgery following the removal of tumours.
Several thousand of them have survived cancer only to face the anguish of whether their implants might rupture.
They are the ones whose plight should be highlighted in this debacle – or those whose breasts are so hideously disfigured they have been offered implants on the NHS. The rest (the vast majority) are slaves to the pursuit of physical perfection who should conserve their energies for seeking redress from those who fitted them with crude implants that were unfit for purpose.
And if any good does come out of this scandal it must be that women stop burying their heads in the sand about boob jobs.
This isn’t the first time health risks have been linked to implants.
Implants made from soya bean oil were banned in 1999 after the alarm was raised about ruptures and leakage – over 4,500 women were advised to have the implants removed.
Before that, an implant made of polyurethane-coated silicone gel was taken off the market in 1991 amid concerns about cancer risks.
The only implants that appear to be relatively risk free are saline implants because even if they rupture the contents are only salt water – but women, persuaded by surgeons, are convinced the silicone gel variety gives them a better shape.
Ah the surgeons... they’re mostly keeping quiet on this apart from representatives of the comically-acroynm-ed BAAPS (British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons) and those working for the leading cosmetic surgery providers.
The latter are bleating that they will go out of business if the government decides to make them pay for all those PIPs to be removed. Ah, diddums. Haven’t they heard of insurance?
Currently, the government is dithering. After first saying there was no risk to women, it has back-tracked, with the health secretary saying he is “angry” and demanding an urgent review of safety data. His anger arose after it emerged the risks of rupture were higher than initially reported – eight times higher. Oh, dear. And now a surgeon on the government-appointed panel investigating the sorry saga has said any woman saddled with the dodgy implants should have them removed.
Will Britain follow the French example and pay for all women who received the implants to have them whipped out? It would be utter madness to do so except for those who were given the implants during reconstructive surgery. The health service is already creaking and could never justify the time or the money needed to implement a scheme on such a huge scale. The tab must be picked up by the private cosmetic surgery firms who have profited so handsomely from cheap implants and from cynically exploiting the female quest for perfection.
It’s time for the BBC to bring back Arlene
Alesha Dixon is leaving Strictly Come Dancing for Britain’s Got Talent.
Simon Cowell’s welcome to her. She’ll be just like his other female judges choices of late – leggy but lacking credibility owing to a lack of intelligence, insight and maturity.
Now BBC do the decent thing and bring back Arlene Phillips.
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I think any woman under 35 that wants breast implants, should have them free on the NHS.
The NHS should NOT pay for these things to be removed/changed, the profiteering doctors/surgeons should fork out for all the costs relating to these things, and if they refuse then the Government pays and charges accordingly plus additional costs for Admin, Interest etc. The only people that should not suffer in all this are the women that had them as part of reconstructive surgery eg, Cancer patients, Accident victims etc., the women who had them done as a vanity thing (I just want bigger t***) should go to the back of the queue, on no account should the tax payer lose out on this.
On a more personal note, I think they look bloody ugly at the best of times, you can tell a mile away that a woman has plastic ones, they dont wobble, move, or squash, they just sit there like big ugly liumps.
I have always said for any filling jobs you can't beat 3 of sand and 1 of cement.
If the implant was used for surgical reasons on the NHS then fair enough it is the NHS's responsibility BUT any other reasons i.e vanity then the person who paid should be held responsible for the cost even if it has to be removed because of health issues!
forgive me for not giving a ****! Silly silly girls if you could find the money to take your vanity this far you can find the money for stopping your boobs exploding!!DISMISSED!
Another waste of taxpayers money.
I think the government should impose a 'one off' extra tax on the surgeons/plastic surgery industry to cover the 150 million that its going to cost.
The private health industry creams off all the profit of doing the easy procedures but when it goes wrong they transfer the patient to the NHS who then picks up all the costs it like the NHS under writes and provides free insurance for their business.
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/25255
sign this epetition to stop tax dodgers
The company which supplied the silicone and it's curing additives should be the ones to be sued for supplying products not fit for purpose. Unless,of course,the surgeons specified a specific product,in which case they should be be sued. Who should NOT pay are the ladies and the tax payers! Bit like buying a new car with inferior tyres,isn't it?
As a woman i am happy enough to not want to change my body. I think its wrong for the nhs to be responsible for things going wrong. They shouldnt get them for free at all, what a stupid irrisponsible comment. I was bullied at school as were a few of my mates as we wernt bothered about looking like a fake, the media should by helping young girls to love what they were born with instead of being handed change on a silver plate.
Compared to other avoidable health issues - i.e. those caused by drink, drugs, smoking or other tom-foolery the cost to the NHS to remove/replace these defective implants would be tiny.
Having said that, the cost should be recovered from the manufacturer, it was their negligence which has caused this problem.
Would the money spent on fake boobs not be better spent broadening women's minds?
I find this impossibly difficult. Great if you're a footballers wife and can afford to have them replaced, but what about people who had to save hard for this op, or those whose circumstances have changed and are now not so well off? What happens if what was paid for in good faith turns out to be not only badly made, but possibly fraudulent, it should be the French manufacturers insurance who pick up the tab, or the French government (some hope they're not as stupid as ours). Making surgeons pay would almost certainly bankrupt them, and failing to remove from those who cannot afford it might mean health consequences which will cost the NHS far more in the medium term.
No easy answers here and it's certainly not as black & white simplistic as Deanna Delamotto seems to think.
arlene phillips is annoying to the point of contempt, fortunately i cant stand the show either. if i did, though, id much rather hear alesha dixons voice than the annoying screech of arlene
As usual, the thing about this piece which jumps out at me, outside of the issues of the content, the rights and wrongs, is that Deanna Delamotta makes passes judgement en masse on women who, at the end of the day, have boob jobs, have face lifts, have tummy tucks, rub pointless creams under their eyes, wear makeup, and constantly try to make themselves more attractive to men because of the very industry - the media and print media - from which Ms Delamotta makes a very nice living. The hypocrisy statements like:
But you can dress up the reasoning however you like, vanity is the main motivator for women subjecting themselves to unnecessary surgery.
Is almost beyond belief. Is the writer trying to tell us that she is able to sit in judgement because she has not the intellect or understanding that women, and increasingly men, go to these lengths to satisfy a vanity driven into them for decades by the very industry which pays her wage? If this is the case, then surely she should not be allowed to set pen to paper as she is not qualified to preach.
Lol @ this time next year Dave.
A comment ironically similar to the subject matter of the article - false!
Well endowed women will now be accosted in the street by those ambulance chasing accident/injury salespeople, who will now spot a new market to tackle!
We will end up paying for it, just you wait, along with the dodgy implants of health tourists from around the globe. We have to respect their human rights!
Sorry, were there some words alongside that picture???
Under the circumstances I think the NHS should pay for the removal of these implants. The NHS treats lots of other people who have been the cause of their own ill-health because of their silly decisions - smokers, drinkers and drug addicts for instance.
But the NHS should stop all breast implant operations itself. And any woman asking for one should be treated as mentally ill and treated accordingly, not given bigger breasts at the taxpayers expense.
Additionally, a law should be passed requiring the the private breast enlargement industry to insure fully for any further scandals like this one. This would push up the cost of such operations and mean that fewer stupid and impressionable women were able to afford them, which can only be a good thing.
WHAMMERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The NHS (National Health Service) should have nothing to do with unnecessary cosmetic surgery for the vain. If you really feel that low, that bad about yourself because of how you appear to strangers, then either grow up - or save some money and pay for a dodgy botched op repair yourself.
The NHS should be used for serious illness and getting the sick back to good health, it's over-stretched enough as it is. More hospitals and surgeries are closing and there are more people than ever living in this little country.
If you follow that line of reasoning smoking is self inflicted, obesity, sport injuries, and many more things that are treated by the NHS. Should we all have to pay for these treatments?
If a woman has breast cancer than by all means the NHS should pay for the operation, however if it is just for the sake of beauty then the person wanting to make themselves more beautiful should pay for them. The NHS needs the money they have for more important areas of medical work than a womans desire to have larger/smaller breasts.
These womans lives are in danger because of a French profiteering company. It is not a joking matter. Of course the NHS should treat them immediately and the government should recover the money from the company and or surgeons concerned. The NHS picks up the cost of alcoholism and no one bats an eyelid. All those women wanted was to improve their self esteem abd were conned.
Woweeeeee!!!! look at her lovely massive............. smile
Am I the only one to have noticed the advert for the cosmetic surgery clinic that runs alongside this article!
Not sure this is the cleverest piece of advertising in the circumstances, but funny nonetheless!
Do I win a free hair transplant for spotting this?