Breasts: Plastic Surgery
(asked on 10th December 2025) - View Source
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many women in the Bristol East constituency have been affected by faulty PIP breast implants.
The role of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is to monitor all incidents that are reported to us, making sure that these incidents are investigated fully and that any necessary action is taken. The poly implant prothèse (PIP) issue was a result of the use of a non-approved silicone in the production of the breast implants and fragile shells. Not all PIP implants manufactured during the affected period used industrial-grade silicone or had more fragile shells. As a result, rupture rates vary depending on the batch received and early rupture typically occurs within the first five to 10 years. Due to the overall fraudulent activity, we do not know how many fall into this category.
We worked with the National Health Service and other health partners to ensure the issue was properly investigated. It is important to note that while PIP implants are associated with a higher risk of rupture, leading to symptoms such as tenderness or swollen lymph glands, there is no evidence linking ruptured PIP implants to serious long-term health issues. The PIP breast implants were withdrawn from the United Kingdom in 2010, and two independent reviews have identified lessons learned, the Howe Review (2012) and the Keogh Review (2013), with further information available on both, respectively, at the following two links:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/review-of-the-regulation-of-cosmetic-interventions
One of the concerning issues for women with breast implants at the time of PIP was that women didn’t know they had PIP breast implants. It is estimated that approximately 47,000 British women had PIP implants fitted. We are unable to provide the granularity for individual constituencies, although further information is available at the following link:
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/pip-implants/
However, please note that any PIP implants still in place have now exceeded 15 years in situ, which is the upper end of the 10 to 15 year typical life expectancy of a breast implant. As with any medical device reaching the end of its expected lifespan, clinical decisions regarding removal or replacement should be made on an individual basis in discussion between the doctor and the individual involved.
The health system has enacted important changes since the publication of reviews focused on PIP implants. As a result of the Keogh Review, since 2016 the Breast and Cosmetic Implant Registry collects data on all types of breast implant and removal surgery in England and Scotland, which aims to help detect emerging safety issues and trace patients if necessary.
As part of MHRA’s regulatory reform program, we are intending to also improve the traceability of medical devices through the introduction of Unique Device Identifiers (UDI) which will help identify individual medical devices and who manufactured the device or placed it on the market.