LEBANON: Hundreds of Lebanese women have French-made silicone breast implants that are at the centre of a global health scare says plastic surgeon

Record ID: 430730

  • Title: LEBANON: Hundreds of Lebanese women have French-made silicone breast implants that are at the centre of a global health scare says plastic surgeon
  • Date: 10th January 2012
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) LEBANESE PLASTIC SURGEON, NADER SAAB, SAYING: ''The statistics are not clear yet because a lot of women went to Europe to get these implants, some of them did the breast augmentation in Lebanon and some Arab women did it in Lebanon. The number of PIP implant procedures conducted in Lebanon are close to 1,000. In Lebanon, there are more than 4,000 breast augmentation procedures conducted each year by plastic surgeons and others. So the numbers are not clear yet and also a lot of the implants are being replaced day by day.'' SAAB SPEAKING IN INTERVIEW PATIENT IN HOSPITAL ROOM AHEAD OF UNDERGOING IMPLANT REPLACEMENT SURGERY CLOSE OF PATIENT PATIENT'S HANDS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) LEBANESE PLASTIC SURGERY PATIENT, PAMELA HADDAD, SAYING: ''I had the surgery about four years ago and recently I was watching TV and saw Doctor Saab speaking about the fake implants and that they cause cancer and there have been cases of death, so I looked at my implant certificate and found out it is the same kind of implants that were being recalled -- PIP. So I panicked and had a nervous breakdown. I was really upset and didn't know what to do.'' MORE OF PATIENT IN HOSPITAL ROOM (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) LEBANESE PLASTIC SURGERY PATIENT, PAMELA HADDAD, SAYING: ''Cancer is not a game at all, especially among young girls. I am 24-years-old, so imagine if I had cancer as a result of an aesthetic procedure -- it would have been something very bad.'' PEOPLE WALKING IN SHOPPING DISTRICT WOMEN LOOKING AT WINDOW DISPLAY VARIOUS EXTERIOR OF LINGERIE SHOP (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) ARAB TOURIST IN LEBANON, LAMEES SALAMAH, SAYING: ''Plastic surgery is something nice and can make women more beautiful and women are obsessed with it these days, but it is scary and for sure worrisome. The people doing these procedures for women tell them it is harmless and can make them beautiful, but in truth whether or not it's harmful, it is still scary, but it might make you more beautiful.'' MORE OF EXTERIOR OF LINGERIE SHOP PEOPLE WALKING IN SHOPPING DISTRICT
  • Embargoed: 25th January 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Lebanon, Lebanon
  • Country: Lebanon
  • Topics: Health,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVABH5SDW3HAJRI2KJ9N8I8TO1L4
  • Story Text: Women in Lebanon rushed to remove breast implants manufactured by French company Poly Implant Prothese (PIP), which recently became entangled in a global scandal after a French report found the company's implants were more prone to rupturing than standard medical implants.
    Ruptures can lead to irritation and inflammation.
    The scandal scared woman with PIP breast implants around the world and some 30,000 women in France alone were advised to remove the implants, which were discovered to be made of unapproved industrial-grade silicone not meant for medical use.
    Beirut-based plastic surgeon Doctor Nader Saab said he is trying to raise awareness among Lebanese and other Arab women who have undergone breast augmentation in Lebanon to check if their implants are made by PIP, and, if so, to have them removed.
    Saab believes there are 1,000 women in Lebanon who have PIP breast implants. He said over the past two weeks he has performed dozens of operations to remove them.
    ''The problem we are facing is that this implant is easily ruptured and this gel can cause cancer once it comes in contact with the body,'' said Saab, a prominent Lebanese plastic surgeon who has his own plastic surgery hospital in Lebanon.
    Saab said there were no clear statistics yet on how many women had undergone the procedure to remove these implants.
    "In Lebanon, there are more than 4,000 breast augmentation procedures conducted each year by plastic surgeons and others. So the numbers are not clear yet and also a lot of the implants are being replaced day by day,'' said Saab.
    Meanwhile, 24-year-old Pamela Haddad was on a hospital bed awaiting surgery to remove her breast implants.
    She is one of many women who recently discovered she had PIP implants and wanted them removed.
    ''I had the surgery about four years ago and recently I was watching TV and saw Doctor Saab speaking about the fake implants and that they cause cancer and there have been cases of death," she said.
    "I looked at my implant certificate and found out it is the same kind of implants that were being recalled -- PIP. So I panicked and had a nervous breakdown. I was really upset and didn't know what to do," Haddad added.
    She decided to have them removed in Dr. Saab's clinic.
    ''Cancer is not a game at all, especially among young girls," she said.
    "If I had cancer as a result of an aesthetic procedure -- it would have been something very bad,'' she added as she lay in the recovery room shortly after she had completed the procedure.
    Plastic surgery is common among women in Lebanon, young and old, and among men. The country is also a destination for many Arab women seeking plastic surgery.
    But one Arab woman on a visit to Lebanon said despite the beautifying outcome of plastic surgery, it is a ''scary'' process.
    ''Plastic surgery is something nice and can make women more beautiful and women are obsessed with it these days, but it is scary and for sure worrisome. The people doing these procedures for women tell them it is harmless and can make them beautiful, but in truth whether or not its harmful, it is still scary, but it might make you more beautiful,'' said Lamees Salamah as she strolled through Beirut's Hamra district.
    PIP, which began selling implants in 1991, was once the third-largest breast implant maker in the world.
    It went bankrupt and closed its doors in 2010 after an official inspection revealed it was using industrial-grade silicone in some of its products. Industrial-grade silicone is not approved by health authorities and is much cheaper than the medical-grade equivalent.
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