A woman whose breast implants are leaking gel into her body has been told she will have to pay £5,000 to have the problem fixed.
Jessica Ward, a 30-year-old council worker from Hyde, had an operation to take her from an A to a C cup in 2006.
Tests taken after a breast cancer scare showed her implant – made by French manufacturer PIP – had ruptured and the gel had seeped out.
Now the Harley Medical Group, which carried out the original operation for £4,500, has told her she will have to pay £5,000 to repair the leak. The alternative is to wait nine months for an operation on the NHS.
Jessica said: "I’m distraught. I had the operation to boost my confidence and I was so happy with it I recommended it to all my friends – at least 10 people I know went on to have the operation.
"I did not choose PIP implants as a cheap option. They were what my surgeon recommended and I paid £4,500 – it was not a cheap option.
"I found a lump in my breast in May and my GP referred me for tests. I waited two weeks fearing I had breast cancer only to be told my implant had ruptured and was leaking.
"Then I read in horror the warnings about the PIP implants and I could hardly believe it – it is like a living nightmare. I am sick with worry. "
Jessica is one of up to 50,000 British women who have the implants, which are made of a silicone gel.
She says the problems began 18 months ago when one of her breasts became swollen.
The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons has issued a new safety recommendation on implants made by the French firm.
Nigel Mercer, president of the association, said: "If people have PIP implants they should have an ultrasound in the next six months, to establish whether there is any rupture.
"Removal is recommended in these cases but if there is one ruptured implant, the other one should be taken out as well, as a preventative measure."
The scare started in France where there are concerns that a protective coating designed to stop the implant splitting is missing. French and British authorities have put out alerts about the PIP implants and recalled any that have not been used.
The firm has since gone into liquidation – apparently without insurance.
In France, more than 500 women have filed complaints with prosecutors, demanding free replacements of their implants and compensation.
Clare McKenna, manager of The Harley Medical Group’s Manchester clinic, in Police Street, said: "We are unable to go into details of the patient history as it would be a breach of patient confidentiality.
"However, our medical board are in close contact with the Medical and Healthcare Regulatory Agency to review the ongoing investigation into PIP implants."
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Sorry no sympathy here. You should be happy with the body you have (which to me looks pretty good). However If you’re daft enough to go for cosmic surgery of any description you sign up for the consequences to. Unlucky.
all this for vanity !!
God, there are some hard hearted people on here at times. The poor woman must be worried sick. I wish her all the best.
dependant on the company you go with and how much you want to pay, you get aftercare included. For £4500 that should be the case her, wont use harley street after reading this.
If breast jobs themselves are available on the NHS it is a disgrace
Surely Harley Medical Group are liable?
The service they performed was not fit for purpose or of merchantable quality.
I cant imagine she bought her own implants and turned up on their door.
Get yourself off to a solicitor love, and as for the numpties making BS posts - ingore them.
"Then I read in horror the warnings about the PIP implants and I could hardly believe it – it is like a living nightmare. I am sick with worry.
should have read the small print, vanity oftens blinds one to the consequences.
Have you noticed that the governing body for this procedure is
the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons.
BAPPS.....
You couldn't make it up. .............Hope she gets it sorted.
The question is should the NHS fund the operation that wasn't necessary (from a medical perspective) in the first place. I'm sure we will, thats what we do in the UK.
"Then I read in horror the warnings about the PIP implants and I could hardly believe it – it is like a living nightmare. I am sick with worry."
Probably better to research this before hand
I do have some sympathy for Ms Ward & I believe that the Harley Medical group should not charge her any more as they should accept some responsibility however I do NOT think she should be allowed to have any surgery free on the National Health. She chose to have the operation for personal reasons - not as a medical necessity. No NHS funds should be spent on repairing botched cosmetic surgery - why should our taxes be spent on someone who put themselves at risk through their own choice when many genuinely ill people are refused drugs & procedures such as cancer treatment due to limited funds available in the NHS. We must stop NHS money being wasted on such cases - if these people have to have NHS treatment to fix mistakes or even any after care treatment (as is often the case with overseas cosmetic surgery) then the patient should be charged by the NHS.
You pays your money etc....
I, myself, prefer the smaller cup size...
Having several pounds of what naturally occuring is fat attached to your chest can't be very pleasant and to want to enhance this seems a little stupid to me.
Mankind is obsessed with their genitalia it seems.
Whilst I do have a degree of sympathy with this lady, I am sick of hearing about women who just jump into the idea of "improving your life with cosmetic surgery". In my view we should be happy with what GOD has given us. Some women these days are so obsessed with how they look that they lose sight of the major complications that these operations can cause. This lady said she has a boob job to "boost her confidence", well I wonder how confident she feels now.
My father was told that if he didn’t give up smoking the NHS doctors wouldn’t complete an operation that he needed to survive. Therefore I would suggest the NHS put a similar warning out such as, if you have an unnecessary operation that you pay for privately the NHS won’t pick up the pieces and put it right when it goes wrong.
It was my fathers choice to smoke as it was this lady’s choice to go ahead with this.
"Have you noticed that the governing body for this procedure is
the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons.
BAPPS....."
BAAPS
romi, a galaxy far far away ,
fair comment well made
I am sure she is worried, but i'm not really sure why we are expected to have any sympathy?
I have never specifically investigated breast implants, but know enough from the TV/press to know that there are potential problems with implants like this - one of these is the risk of the implant leaking.
Presumably someone actually considering undergoing this surgery would do some research first, so she absolutely must have knows about this potential risk - but she went ahead anyway.
Cosmetic surgery is risky. She's learnt that the hard way.
"Having several pounds of what naturally occuring is fat attached to your chest can't be very pleasant and to want to enhance this seems a little stupid to me"
Pretty sure the majority is not fat mate
[quote name=lovinthebanter, Manchester]"Having several pounds of what naturally occuring is fat attached to your chest can't be very pleasant and to want to enhance this seems a little stupid to me"
Pretty sure the majority is not fat mate[/quote]
Check your biology, it's lard! All the good bits on a woman is lard...
Well spotted lovin the banter 10/10 for paying attention to a pair of BAAPS (or BAPPS)...:-) ... Phonetically the same though.
We dont have cash registers or a financial section or insurance for triage in NHS so there is no billing mechanism for treatment, unlike Eire, France, USA, Caribbean, Germany and and and...
I'm afraid she waits or she sues...However Caveat emptor applies...
Jess, you knew of the consequences of these implants when you had them so you should not be able to get them repaired on the NHS. In fact, NHS should permanantly cancel all boob jobs and whoever wants one, must fully pay for it.
The only option I can think of you is to set-up a collection and hope people give you generously to make up the £5,000 you need.
In the future archaeologists will be digging up skellingtons with jell filled bags on them and scratching their heads.
HaHa! ; )
Harley Medical should replace the implants free of charge, 7 years is no time to have implants in, especially in this day and age.
They choose PIP as a preffered supplier so they should suffer the consequence, instead of coining in on their mistakes.
Not all PIP implants will rupture but those that do within 10yrs should most definately be cleared up and done quickly.
The government should control these large profitable firms a bity more in these cirmcumstances.
I am in the same situation as Jessica. I used a recommended surgeon only to find out he has used faulty impants. I wasnt given a choice of implant either and because it is passed the 3 year aftercare they are not interested.
I expect that Jessica isnt looking for sympathy but just trying to raise awareness to the other 50,000 women who have these implants, some are yet to find out.
The medical companines have not contacted anyone to let them know, they are waiting women who have found lumps and are in pain to contact them.
I would also like to point out not all breast augmentations are for women who want large chests, some of the females in this situation have been cancer patients too!
Good luck Jessica