Lawford Kidd's Blog

The Government's response to Sir Bruce Keogh's recommendations for overhauling the cosmetic treatment industry is welcome as far as it goes, but overall is ""too little, too late" according to the patient safety charity, Action against Medical Accidents (AvMA).

AvMA has had to advise and support people who have been harmed by sub-standard cosmetic treatment, and submitted evidence to Sir Bruce's review.

Whilst the Government has accepted the vast majority of Sir Bruce's report "in principle", it has not committed to full regulation of the industry or ensuring appropriate avenues for redress for patients who have been harmed.

The NHS Medical Director’s expert group, which has been looking at PiP breast implants, has published its final report.

The findings of the group include:

• Exhaustive world-wide testing of the PiP gel material has not revealed anything which could cause a long-term threat to human health – they are not toxic nor carcinogenic.
• They do, however, have a higher rupture rate – around two times higher. The rate of rupture appears to be around six to 12% after five years, rising to 15 to 30% after 10 years (this compares to 10-14% after 10 years for other brands of implants).
• PiP implants have a higher concentration of certain compounds called siloxanes – chemically similar to silicone but of a lower molecular weight and found in many consumer products, including hair and skin care products, antiperspirants and deodorants – but this does not present a health risk.
• Although the contents are not harmful and the gel has not been shown to contain any toxic substances, the inferior mechanical strength of the implants led the group to consider this a substandard product.

The expert group has said that the advice to women who have PiP implants remains unchanged. It is expected that all providers of PIP implants will contact their patients. If women are unsure of the make of their implant they should contact their surgeon or provider.

A report published by the Gas Safety Trust has revealed a dramatic rise in the number of deaths resulting from carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning in the UK since 2010.

Recent figures released by the Ministry of Justice have revealed that injury compensation worth over £10 million has been paid to prison inmates over the past five years, reports the Independent.

A six-year-old Norfolk boy has won £4.6 million in compensation after incurring serious brain damage during his birth in 2004, reports the BBC.