New implant scandal hits France

After the PIP breast implant case a new health care scandal has hit France. A health watchdog has found that 650 people in France have been fitted with replacement hips without European safety certification.

AFP

Health officials said there was no reason to believe that the non-certified prosthetics posed any health risk.

But; with a huge trial over potentially dangerous faulty breast implants still going on, they have asked surgeons involved to carry out checks, including scans, on the patients concerned.

The French agency for medicine safety (ANSM) said an investigation has been launched into the manufacturer, Ceraver, and around 1,000 of its artifical hips have been confiscated.

The company is France's second-biggest manufacturer of artificial joints and produces around 3,000 prosthetic ankles, hips, knees and shoulders per year.

Its boss, Daniel Blanquaert, admitted there had been irregularities in the labelling of the artificial joints, but said the modifications made to the joints were too small to justify going through the whole certification process again.

The non-certified artificial hips were sold to around 60 French hospitals.

None were exported and no problems reported, according to ANSM

The problem was uncovered during inspections at Ceraver's two production centres near Paris in early April.