Up to 7,000 British women ‘may have lied about botched breast implants’

Up to 7,000 British women could be forced to pay back compensation for dodgy breast implants if the company that tested them wins a court appeal.

German firm TUV Rheinland paid 20,000 victims £2,600 each after an EU court ruled it failed to properly test implants from French company PIP which were made with unapproved industrial silicon.

But it is now appealing the ruling, saying it followed the rules for testing the implants but was ‘defrauded’ by PIP.

The firm has allegedly sent writs to people who received compensation saying it is appealing the EU court order made last year.

It said: ‘As the claimants should have been advised by their lawyers, they will have to reimburse the provisional amounts paid to them if TUV Rheinland wins on appeal.’ 

In court papers, TUV says that more than 5,000 claimants did not prove they had dodgy implants.

One woman who received compensation for botched implants, Leanne Green, told The Sun: ‘The very idea that I would lie about having breast implants just to make some cash is sick.

‘So many of the women involved had the implants after cancer.

‘To accuse them of lying is about as low as you can get. TUV should be ashamed.’ 

Up to 7,000 British women could be forced to pay back compensation for failed breast implants over claims they lied about getting enlargement surgery (stock image)

The implants, manufactured by defunct French company Poly Implant Prothese, were filled with industrial-grade silicone gel intended for mattresses and can rupture, exposing the silicone to body tissue.

French authorities initially said only those implants used after 2001 may have included the unauthorised gel – but an investigation by the UK medical safety watchdog discovered that contaminated implants may have been used in Britain since 1997.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency still advises women that there is no evidence to recommend routine removal of the implants.