MEPs call for database of breast implants

Date: 03/05/01

By John Shelley

MEPs are calling for member states to be forced to keep records of all women who receive silicone breast implants.

They say an EU-wide breast implant register would help reduce the health risks of cosmetic surgery and allow experts to properly assess the dangers of the operation.

The call comes after MEPs received a petition signed by more than 1,000 people, including women whose lives have been blighted by cosmetic operations gone wrong.

French MEP Janelly Fourtou, responsible for drawing up a report on the petition, says the register would "serve as a database for long-term research into silicone implants".

But she warns it must be kept "in such a way as to respect the principle of confidentiality and patients' privacy".

If breast implants rupture, the silicone can leak into the bloodstream and cause dangerous side effects.

MEPs are worried that women are having the operation without being properly warned of the risks.

In addition, parliamentarians want member states to guarantee all patients have access to free advice from independent experts, and every woman having the operation is issued with a 'passport' listing the specifications of the implant and post-operative precautions. MEPs are also considering demanding a ban on implants for girls under 18.

Enterprise Commissioner Erkki Liikanen is currently drawing up his own guidelines on breast implants and MEPs hope their suggestions will be fed into these non-binding recommendations.

"We are going back and checking to what extent we can add these ideas into our proposals," said Liikanen's spokesman Per Haugaard.

The Parliament's petitions committee is due to adopt its proposals on silicone implants on Tuesday 29 May.

MEPs are calling for Member States to be forced to keep records of all women who receive silicone breast implants. They say an EU-wide breast implant register would help reduce the health risks of cosmetic surgery and allow experts to properly assess the dangers of the operation.