According to the Daily Mail, 20,000 British women were compensated £2,600 (about $3,390) each by German company TUV Rheinland after receiving faulty breast implants due to a type of silicone intended for mattresses. The implants were made by a now-defunct French manufacturer called Poly Implant Prothèse (PIP). The Daily Mail reports that TUV Rheinland was sued by 7,000 of the women, as allegedly, it was supposed to test the safety of PIP's implants. The company claimed that it was responsible for looking into the manufacturing process but not the content of the silicone used in the implants, according to Reuters. Now though, the same company is claiming it was "defrauded" by PIP and is accusing over 5,000 women of failing to prove they had the faulty implants to begin with.

As both the Daily Mail and The Sun report, TUV Rheinland is alleging in a court appeal that 5,000-plus of the women failed to produce legitimate medical documentation proving that they had the flawed implants administered. What's more, TUV Rheinland has allegedly told some of the women that they'd be forced to pay back the money they were compensated with if they win the appeal in court.

According to the Daily Mail, the statement to the women reads, "As the claimants should have been advised by their lawyers, they will have to reimburse the provisional amounts paid to them if TUV Rheinland wins on appeal."

One of the alleged victims is 29-year-old Essex-based Leanne Green, who tells the British news publication, "The very idea that I would lie about having breast implants just to make some cash is sick." She adds, "So many of the women involved had the implants after cancer; to accuse them of lying is about as low as you can get. TUV should be ashamed."

Green, who has a young family, had to have her implants removed after one of them burst. She was one of the women who sued the German testing company for compensation.

As mentioned above, PIP's implants were filled with a silicone meant for mattresses. As The Sun reports, the industrial-grade silicone gel can burst and expose the silicone to tissue in the body, which is what happened in Green's case. Allegedly, French authorities claimed implants with the unapproved gel were only used after 2001. However, further investigation by the U.K.'s medical safety watchdog found that the implants may have been used in the country since 1997.

PIP's implants were withdrawn from the U.K. in 2010 when it was discovered they had been made with the silicone gel and therefore would be more likely to rupture. Jean-Claude Mas, the original founder of the French company, was sentenced to four years in jail.

Regardless, TUV Rheinland says the implants were no more dangerous than those with other forms of silicone and seeks to continue with its appeal.

Jan Spivey, co-founder of PIP Action Campaign tells The Sun that this simply isn't true. "The idea [that] women may have to pay back money intended [to] help them is morally bankrupt," she added.

Allure reached out to Green and TUV Rheinland for their respective comments and is waiting to hear back.

Follow Allure on Instagram and Twitter, or subscribe to our newsletter for daily beauty stories delivered right to your inbox.

Source: Read Full Article