A lawyer in South Korea who is suing the American pharmaceutical giant Allergan recently came forward to claim a third patient has been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer caused by breast implants, The Korea Times reported.

Lee Seung-joon of Tae Il Law Firm made the claim while the South Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety confirmed it had received a report about a local patient with breast implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma (BIA-ALCL) linked to Allergan breast implants, the Times said.

Lee and Tae Il filed a class action lawsuit against Allergan in the U.S. in May in conjunction with an American law firm. As of July 13, nearly 2,000 who have or had Allergan breast implants had signed on to participate, including “three confirmed cancer patients,” the Korean newspaper said. The patient most recently diagnosed with breast implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma is in her 60s now and got her Allergan breast implants in 2010.

She was later diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer, according to the report in The Korea Times, and had surgery to remove them.

Breast Implant-Associated Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma

Breast implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma is a rare cancer of the immune system, not breast cancer. Fewer than 10 patients a year are diagnosed with the disease, according to the FDA.

Most cases occur in patients with textured implants, which are thought to cause more inflammation of the surrounding tissue than smooth implants, the Cleveland Clinic says.

Surgical removal of the breast implants and surrounding scar tissue is the most standard treatment for patients with BIA-ALCL.

Company Offers Compensation to Allergan Breast Implant Patients in South Korea

Word of the first Korean patient with Allergan implants diagnosed with breast implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma became public in August 2019. A month earlier, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration requested Allergan recall some of its textured Biocell breast implants based on evidence they have an increased risk of causing the rare disease. Allergan agreed to pull the implants from the U.S. market and in September 2019 announced a “compensation plan” for South Korean patients.

Allergan Korea said it would pay any medical expenses not covered by the nation’s public health plan for any patient diagnosed with breast implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma for the rest of the patient’s life, the Korea Herald newspaper reported. The company said it would pay up to $1,000 for testing for any patients suspected of having the disease. And for those with implants, but no symptoms of the rare cancer, Allergan Korea offered to replace their textured implants with smooth ones.

Lawyers Say Allergan Compensation Offer is Insufficient

Lee say the probability is high that more Allergan patients in South Korea will be found to have breast implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma.

“We estimate that nearly 60,000 people in Korea had breast augmentation using the company’s implants, but the compensation measures … the company announced are inadequate,” the lawyer was quoted by the Korea Times as saying. He went on to say his firm “tried to arrange a meeting with the Allergan Korea CEO to settle, but the company refused and said they don’t have anything else to offer.”

As a result of the failed negotiations, the legal team filed its lawsuit in the U.S., Lee reportedly told the Korea Times. It seeks compensation for the cost of removing the Allergan breast implants, and for the emotional pain and suffering caused by the fear of developing the rare cancer.

Allergan is facing similar class action lawsuits in U.S. federal court in New York and Colorado.

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