NEWS Push for alerts on implants

BREAST implants linked to cancer are still on sale in Australia even though the US regulator has called a public meeting to discuss their safety and they have been removed from shelves in Europe.

France’s medical watchdog suspended the CE (Conformité Européenne) safety approval for the popular rough textured Allergan Biocell breast in December last year.

Now the US regulator, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is planning a meeting next week to discuss breast implant associated cancer.

Australia’s regulator, Therapeutic Goods Administration, convened its breast implant expert reference group on January 30 to discuss the situation with Allergan’s Biocell implants but decided to continue to allow them to be sold here. A leading Australian researcher in the area – plastic surgeon Professor Anand Deva – is calling for it to be made mandatory for Australian doctors to report cases of the rare cancer to the TGA.

A new study by Australian plastic surgeons Professors Deva and Mark Magnusson has found a 47 per cent increase in the number of rare cancers cases linked to all breast implants in Australia.

The total number of confirmed cases in Australia has increased to 81 and three of the patients have died.

About 20,000 Australian women a year have breast implants fitted after cancer surgery or for cosmetic purposes and four in 10 use Allergan’s Biocell product.

More than 60 of these implants have been associated with rare cancer BIA ALCL in Australia.