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Hi Ladies

I have stumbled upon this site by accident. I had under PIP implants in feb 08 carried out by Surgicare in Manchester by Mr D'Arcangelo, and went to the doctors because I had a lump in my left breast. I was urgently referred to the breast clinic, where after scans it was found that my implant has ruptured. This has resulted in me having an almost square left breast as the lump is so large, and my lymph gland is also enlarged.

I immediately rang Surgicare on returning home where i was advised that my implants would be replaced free of charge but i would have to pay £2000.00 for the hospital and anethetist fee's as ruptures are only covered for 12 months following surgery....this is from the same company that advised me that the implants they were giving me were of the highest quality and even if stabbed they would not leak , the were described as been like a jelly baby inside. However i have not been stabbed in the chest, but low and behold they have !!!!

I think this post may possibly in the wrong forum, and apologies for that but i was not sure where to post. I would be grateful to hear from anyone who has experienced similar problems or taken legal action against one of the companies.

Look forward too hearing from you ladies
Elisa x

Hi Elisa

Welcome to the forum, you will find lots of information and lots of support from the lovely ladies on here.

Sorry to hear about your rupture hun and the PIP implants, you can read some information [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] about the whole PIP issue.

Good luck xx

Moved for you hun.

You'll find a few of us here who have suffered ruptures hun, myself included, feel free to read my diary in the boob job diaries forum - [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

There are also quite a few ladies here with PIPs hun with xxprincessxx actually contacting a solicitor about this and will update with her news as soon as she gets some feedback - see [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

If you have any questions about your rupture hun, feel free to ask away. xxx

Thank you so much

At the minute i really dnt know what to think my head is all over the place.

I am waiting to see my surgeon at the min, i have had my appointment cancelled 3 times by Surgicare, i am hopefully seeing him tom night.

If his response is not what i want or deserve - i have already spoke to trading standards who have advised me to take legal action - so i will be. I am a single parent who has had my hours at work cut significantly since i had the op the there is no way i can afford to pay anything at all for them removing or replacing, even more so since i was assured they would only rupture if stabbed !!!

I hope they sleep well at night because at the minute i certainly are not.
xx

Aw hun, I feel really terrible for you and I really hope something can be done for you. Take care.

Really hope you get to see your surgeon tonight leigh and with the whole PIP revelation I'm hoping they'll do the right thing and offer you the surgery for free. Fingers crossed for you hun! xxx

didnt u get aftercare with your implants?as thi sshould def cover it even so they were pip and should be replaced without amy questions most girls i know with pips have had theirs replaced now my friend louise did free of charge
xxx

Hi and welcome to the forum

Sorry to hear about what has happened xx I hope you got in to see your PS last night and managed to make some progress xx

Don't give up hun xx Fingers crossed that they do the right thing in light of them being PIPS x x

Keep in touch xx

Hi

thanks for the replies, i was lead to believe i had aftercare, however when i spoke to the they have said the implants they told me were of the highest quality and would never rupture are only covered for the first 12 month post surgery against rupture

I find this a bit stange when upon leaving the clinic i was given a lifetime guarantee for the implants.

Hopefully things will be a little clearer after tonight.... If the appointment goes ahead i have been trying to ring to confirm but so far have only got to an answer machine !!

The implants may have been guarenteed for life, in which they will give you free implants, I think they mean the surgery for ruptured implants was only covered for 12 months, I assume they want you to pay the hospital, surgeon and anesthetic fees, which are probably more expensive to remove a ruptured implant.

Having a lifetime guarantee for your implants just covers the cost of replacing the implant hun, it does not cover any further surgery fees babe and it seems you were given only 12 months after-care cover from Surgicare to cover ruptures or CC and you're now outside of your policy, they rightly according to their policy have offered you your free implants in replacement but want you to pay surgery costs in accordance with their contract with you.

However, I'm hoping Surgicare will do the right thing given the now evidence of the high rupture rate of PIPs and the misleading advice you were given and give you your re-op for free babe - Keep at it hunni! xxx

Hi,

I have tonight finally seen my surgeon who has advised me that the implants need removing sooner rather than later, and he has said that he will waiver all his costs.

However i am still left with the hospital costs which amount to £2000.00, so i now have to take up this issue with surgicare !!!

I tried asking him about the issues regarding PIP's but he would not really be drawn into the matter, he just said the media make an issue of things....

My concern is now he has advised that they need removing sooner rather than later, however if i am to go down the legal route that will take months if not longer.

Is anyone aware if the NHS will remove implants ??? as by the looks of things that is the route i may have to go down.

xx

The NHS will remove your implants sweetness, but they won't replace them. If this is the route you plan on taking hunni you should make an appointment to speak with your GP. So sorry things weren;t better at your appointment hun, have you spoken yet with the clinic manager at Surgicare and used the complaints procedure yet?

Hi

I have tried to speak to their customer service manager several times today, to no joy, i was told she was in meetings all day long. I spoke to another person from the customer service department, who informed me that they would not be liable as they thought that what they were implanting was a quality product, however she was slightly lost for words when i quoted an article from the british aesthetics surgeons, published in 2007 that they had major concerns regarding the high rupture rates of PIP implants.


So now once agin waiting for a call back...

Im so frustrated, and down with it all, i know i have something in my body that i just want out, but i have also seen the pictures of people that have simply had them removed, and i dont want to be like that. Before i had my BA i had real confidence and body issues, which the op significantly resolved, so now i feel im heading very rapidly back to square 1.

xx

OK, if you still get no joy, you then need to go down the complaints route. Ask who you would send a letter of complaint to, then detail your complaint in writing and send that off, this will be dealt with by the clinic management who will take into consideration your individual case. Good luck hunni! x

Oh poor you, I really feel for you lovely.

This is the thing with aftercare. You have to be so thorough with what exactly it entails, in this case it looks like they're trying to worm their way out of paying for theatre hire.

I would def ask a medical solicitor's advice. Even if they just give you a free consultultation they should be able to let you nkow if it will be possible to sue for damages etc.

xx

Hi

I have consulted 2 seperate solicitors today, they have advised me that any case would have to be persued against the manufacturer of the implant as opposed to the company that carried out the BA, as the company believed what they were supplying was a high quality product which had undergone rigorus testing, therefore they are not at fault in this case.

I have also spoken to Surgicare again and they are also taking this stand point. So it looks like im back to square 1. There seems to be stumbling blocks at every turn.

I dont see what use putting a claim again the manufacturer would be when they have now gone into administration.

xx

Continue with the complaint Leigh! Write down your greivance in writing and ask the clinic manager who you send a letter of complaint to as you'd like to use their complaints procedure, you never know, it might help! If they won't give you a free re-op at least press for a discount hunni! Keep at it! Don't give up just yet, a lot of clinics will try to get you pay for a re-op but if you continue to press it's out of their hands and into senior managements who may well think different. xx

I am not a solicitor or in anyway legally trained, but I think you have been given slightly incorrect advice by the solicitiors you have consulted.
The absolute crux of your case, if it gets that far, is the paper you mention in your post above that was published in 2007, months before you had your implants in Feb 08. Surgicare should know and keep themselves informed of all publications relating to the implants they are using in my opinion. It is no defence to say they 'didn't know' about the specific article, that is just ignorance and in a surgical/medical field that ignorance is potentially harmful to their patients. They are stuck really - admit to not knowing a on which case I believe they are negligent at best and dishonest at worst OR admit to knowing about the article and then they are just dishonest!! Either way, this will or should work massively in your favour.

Push the point, threaten to involve local and national media, keep the facts straight, the publication in 2007 and then you getting your 'fantastic' implants in 2008.

Good luck in getting this sorted, hopefully it won't take long xxx

oops somehow typed over a bit of my post
They are stuck really - meant to write....admit to not knowing about the article in.......and so on!!

Thank you

I have to admit it is the fact of the journal article that galls me the most when i approached them with this, they simply said that the rupture rate for PIP's was higher due to the fact that they were the ones most often used. When i said that many other clinics do not and have not used them for some time I was simply advised that they could not comment on the products used by other clinics.

I am writing my letter of complaint at the moment. It will arrived by monday....

Fingers, toes and everything crossed xx