Reader Laura’s Comment:
“After the PIP scandal there is some talk in England about offering insurance for breast implants. I guess that some women were able to get the NHS (England’s health system) to pay for their implants rather than having to pay for them themselves but there are others who paid for them themselves. The NHS is covering the cost of having the PIP implants replaced that they paid for in the first place but not for those that didn’t go through the NHS. There is also the issue that some clinics where the women paid for their implants themselves are refusing to replace the implants for free or are no longer in business. What protections are in place in the US for women if something like the PIP scandal happens here?”
An insurance scheme for cosmetic surgery patients could be introduced in the wake of the breast implant scandal. Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, who is leading a government review into the risks from faulty breast implants said the scheme would protect consumers. He said today that he favours a protection fund, paid for by the industry, that could be drawn on if the industry hits trouble or another major scandal erupts. However, there are fears that cosmetic surgery companies will simply pass the costs on to patients, in the form of higher bills for treatments.
Source: dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2089377/Cosmetic-surgery-
insurance-introduced-wake-breast-implants-scandal.html
PIP breast implants were made cheaply. Then again they were sold at a lower cost than their competitors. Why should their competitors be forced to pay insurance premiums for problems with faulty products made by someone else?
Breast implants are used for cosmetic and reconstructive purposes. Here in the US, insurers routinely pay for problems in cases in which the reasons for implantation were reconstructive. This is less commonly the case for implants placed for cosmetic purposes. The insurance industry also actively seeks to exclude insuring women who have breast implants. Some health insurance policies specifically exclude conditions arising from breast implant problems.
Your other question was concerning the doctors who placed the implants: Why should they operate free of charge to correct problems with implants that were approved at the time they used them?
The faulty implants are the fault of the company that made them. Expecting implant companies to not pass the cost of any additional insurance to their customers in pretty naive. Businesses do this. Pretty much only doctors are restricted from usual business practices like this…in many cases anyway. Doctors are lousy businessmen.
Issues of insurance in plastic surgery are usually complicated. When taken as a whole they become hard to administer fairly.
Best Regards,
John Di Saia MD
