Woman sues firm over developing rare breast cancer after implants
A WOMAN from South Yorkshire who had reconstructive surgery after a double mastectomy is taking legal action against the manufacturer of her breast implants after she developed a rare type of cancer.
Susan Axelby, 65, from Sheffield, was diagnosed with Breast Implant Associated Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma (BIA-ALCL), a rare type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2019.
Her health struggles began in 1999, when she underwent an elective mastectomy and reconstructive surgery due to a strong family history of breast cancer.
She was fitted with Allergan macro-textured implants, a product which has been used extensively within the NHS for postmastectomy reconstruction.
However, the implants did not settle properly and she had to undergo further surgery in 2001 to be fitted with a left sided breast expander, also a product manufactured by Buckinghamshirebased Allergan. Ten years later, she required further surgery and then had new Allergan-made implants fitted. Further problems developed and in March 2019, she was diagnosed with BIA-ALCL.
She has now begun legal action in the High Court arguing the products were unsafe and led to the development of her cancer.
Ms Axelby said: “I endured years of worry and a series of operations and now I discover that the very implants which were intended to help me have in the end caused a cancer I was trying to avoid.”
Her solicitor Sarah Moore, of legal firm Leigh Day, said: “Allergan implants were suspended across Europe in December 2018 and withdrawn from the worldwide market in July 2020. Their risk of BIA-ALCL is low, but serious, and very real as Susan’s case shows. Hers is a particularly traumatic story because of the several operations she has had to undergo, each to address an unsatisfactory degeneration in the previous implant.”
A spokesperson for Allergan said the company does not comment on current or pending litigation matters.