More than 50 women in the United Kingdom have developed breast implants illness, and 20 of them have filed lawsuits against surgeons and implant manufacturers.

The women are seeking compensation for the initial costs of receiving the implants and for having them removed plus monetary recovery for personal injury, distress and financial hardships they’ve incurred as a result of their breast implant injuries.

Breast implants illness is actually breast implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma (BIA-ALCL), and has been found in hundreds of women around the world. The disease most often strikes patients who have received highly textured implants, which are more popular in Europe than they are in the U.S.

Allergan makes macro-textured breast implants under its Biocell brand, which the company recalled earlier this year due to fears the extremely textured saline-filled and silicone-filled breast implants and tissue expanders were linked to an increased risk of BIA-ALCL.

BIA-ALCL is a rare immune system cancer and type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, not a type of breast cancer. ALCL develops in the scar tissue and associated fluid pocket near the breast implant.

Even though the disease has been seen in women with both textured and non-textured implants, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says macro-textured implants such as the Biocell brand are more likely to cause ALCL, according to Dr. Binita Ashar, director of the FDA’s Office of Surgical and Infection Control Devices.

Dr. Ashar also said the FDA received 660 worldwide medical device reports regarding BIA-ALCL, including nine deaths, since 2010.

Woman Files Claim Regarding Breast Implants Illness

A 50-year-old woman named Lizzy Bromfield is among the women in the U.K. filing a legal claim against the manufacturer of her breast implants.

She received breast implants in 2005, but developed a swollen area in her right breast in 2016. Fluid taken from the breast led to her diagnosis of BIA-ALCL.

She was fortunate in that she has been cancer-free since both the implants were removed. In other cases, women have needed additional chemotherapy or other cancer treatment even upon having the breast implants and the scar tissue capsule surrounding the implants removed.

BIA-ALCL has been diagnosed anywhere from three to 14 years after implants have been received.

MHRA Issues Advisory

The UK’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) joined top surgeons in the UK in July in making an announcement that doctors need to warn patients of all the possible risks before undergoing breast implant surgery, as well as the possible side effects of breast implant illness.

While the MHRA is continuing to collect reports and specifics surrounding each case of BIA-ALCL, the agency is not telling women to have implants removed if they are not experiencing issues. The unnecessary removal of breast implants could expose a woman to dangers of complications surrounding the surgery itself, including infections.

In an interview with the BBC, Nigel Mercer, a plastic surgeon and chairperson of the advisory group of doctors overseeing cancer cases for the MHRA, said, “There are unknowns with any implant, but it does mean we are using our entire population as human guinea pigs, almost.”

Learn More

This article is not legal advice. It is presented
for informational purposes only.