The certifier of defective PIP breast prostheses will have to compensate 605 women

The German certifier of defective breast prostheses PIP will have to compensate several hundred women, for a total amount of more than 10 million euros, a civil chamber of the Nanterre judicial court ruled on Thursday January 11. Seized in 2018 by 1,319 women, mainly British, the second civil chamber “orders the German company TÜV Rheinland (…) to compensate 605 of them for the damage they suffered”details the presidency of the court in a press release.

In May, the Court of Cassation confirmed TÜV’s liability, paving the way for compensation for some of the victims. The Nanterre court held in particular that “the inconsistency, from 2002, between the quantity of gel ordered (…) and the number of prostheses manufactured had constituted an obvious anomaly in the manufacturing process”, which the company should have noted. The certifier’s lawyer plans to advise her clients to appeal the decision.

In total, nearly a million defective breast prostheses were sold between 2001 and 2010 by PIP, in defiance of all health standards. Instead of an authorized gel, PIP used in part an industrial silicone normally used in the composition of electronic equipment. The number of female victims worldwide is estimated at 400,000. The procedures targeting the certifier, who had never noted any breach, are continuing. Those against the Var manufacturer ended with the death of its founder, Jean-Claude Mas, in 2019.