France breast implant company founder arrested

The founder of a breast implant company at the center of an international health scare was arrested Thursday in an early-morning police raid on his luxury home in the south of France.

Officers in Six-Fours-les-Plages searched the property of Jean-Claude Mas, head of Poly Implant Prothese, and took the 72-year-old into custody. He was formally placed under investigation for manslaughter and involuntary injury.

A judge will decide Friday whether he should be detained pending a preliminary court hearing or released on bail, possibly with an electronic surveillance bracelet and the confiscation of his passport.

Mas has already acknowledged that his company made breast implants using “homemade” silicone that had not been approved for medical use. The gel implants reportedly included a mix of agricultural-grade and industrial-grade silicone. Poly Implant Prothese, or PIP, closed down in 2010 after regulators raised the alarm.

Mas had previously told police that he knew the gel he was using was not approved but denied that it was dangerous. “I did it knowingly because the PIP gel was less expensive … and better quality,” he was reported to have told police.

On Thursday, police had to suspend their questioning of Mas, who recently underwent a heart operation, after he complained of feeling unwell.

A second PIP executive, Claude Couty, was also arrested Thursday.

Last month, the French government advised 30,000 women to have the substandard PIP implants removed after health officials warned that the implants had a higher risk of rupturing and leaking. However, officials said the advice was “precautionary” and that it was neither urgent nor because any direct link had been established between the PIP implants and health problems.

PIP was once one of the world’s largest producers of silicone implants, known for their “good value” and reasonable price. The company produced more than 100,000 implants a year, exporting 80% of them to more than 60 countries.

Mas is at the center of two investigations. One, involving possible manslaughter and involuntary injury, was opened in December after a woman who had PIP implants died of a rare form of cancer. Nineteen additional cases of cancer in women with PIP implants have been reported.

About 2,500 women have filed complaints and will be interviewed by investigators. The case is expected to take several years to bring to court as experts for each plaintiff will need to be examined and challenged by opposing legal teams. Manslaughter carries a five-year prison sentence, and involuntary injury, three years.

Lawyer Philippe Courtois, who represents a number of women who have PIP implants, said they face a long wait for justice.

“The investigation could last three, five or 10 years,” Courtois said.

A second investigation of possible “aggravated deception” has been completed and a court hearing is expected in October. Mas faces three to five years in prison if convicted on this count.

Willsher is a special correspondent.