Linia and its Surgeons, and for that matter all surgeons NHS or private, have no control over deciding if a breast implant or any other device should be licensed or not. It is MHRA which decides that whether an implant or a device has passed what we the surgeon and the public expect to be a rigorous test to show that the device is safe and fit to use on patients.  

Linia and its Surgeons can only rely on the regulatory mechanisms in place to make sure all devices are safe. All surgeons NHS or private, including Linia, relied on the licence provided by the Department of Health through the MHRA to use the PIP implant.  

We all rely on the licences provided by the different regulatory bodies that belong to the government to use every day products including medicines, other healthcare products, and all other products used in all other industries.  

Advice by DoH and MHRA 

Linia has been in constant engagement with the DoH at every stage of this review process regarding the PIP implants. In fact we had warned the Chief Medical Officer in June 2010 that this may become a national health scare. We have offered constructive advice and have also made all of our data available for review.  

Linia has been disappointed by the conflict between the advice given by the expert group set up by MHRA and the statement made by the Department of Health on Friday 6 January regarding PIP implants. It is clear that the proposals made by DoH have done nothing to reduce anxiety levels for our patients. 

MHRA has stated, based on expert advice as it stands, that “there is not enough evidence to recommend routine removal PIP breast implants.”  

However the DoH statement also includes the following:

a. ....... it is undeniably the case that these implants are made up of non-medical grade silicone and therefore should not have been implanted in women in the first place ....

b. ......... we are not confident that the manufacturer did not change the silicone in the implants, so cannot rule out the possibility that some are toxic.  

We believe this means another admission of its failure by DoH.  

Additionally, the position in UK is different from that in France, Germany, Venezuela and the Czech Republic where removal has been recommended as a precaution.  

What is Linia Policy ? 

In Light of the contradictory and thereby confusing advice by DoH, Linia has actively and very carefully considered at our policy recommendation regarding routine removal of the implant. We have decided the following:

1. We are going to discuss the advice given by MHRA with each and every patient, in person at their check up. We are obliged to provide the advice given by MHRA that there is no need to remove the PIP implants as a matter of routine unless clinically indicated so.
 
2. We have decided that, as our patient, we shall take your medical status, individual circumstances and wishes into account. We will support and respect the choice you make.
  
3. We will respect and support any patient who decides to have their PIP implants removed and replaced as a matter of precaution.

4. This removal and replacement however is not urgent unless indicated by the clinical circumstances or so desired by the patient herself.  

5. Those of you who do not decide to remove the implants will be advised to have a scan. Linia does not offer breast scan at present. We are however in the process of setting this up as an additional service. We expect this to start in approximately four weeks time.      

Decision Making 

We completely understand that it is not easy to make a decision under such difficult circumstances. The conflicting advice from DoH and MHRA has not helped. Majority of our patients who we have seen are however indicating that they want PIP implants removed for their peace of mind. We respect their choice in this matter. 

The crucial question you need to decide is this: 

If your implant is not ruptured, do you still want to remove and replace it?  

If the answer to this question is yes we would offer you various dates for operation to choose from. 

If however you do not want to remove the implant, we would put you on our waiting list for  breast scan to check the status of the breast implant. This will help reassure you that your implant is intact.

If you decide later on, before or after the breast scan to have your implants removed and replaced, we shall place you on our waiting list for this.  

However since we have nearly a thousand patients we plan to see and help, it means that we have to create a waiting list for all those who wish to have their implants removed and replaced. To cope with this we have created the extra operating lists. We are obliged to offer these on first come first serve basis. We hope you will understand if a list is already filled. We will endeavour our best to accommodate everyone. 

We understand that everyone has many plans already laid out and have to make arrangements for the operation. To help you make your choice, we have earmarked these lists until June 2012.                                                           

                                          For Further Information please email enquiries@liniacosmeticsurgery.com  
                                                                                           
                                                 0845 230 1700 / 0207 4367408 /01480 437333
                                                                                                                             
                                                                            www.liniacosmeticsurgery.com