Cancer-causing breast implant makers to cover removal costs, but it’s not enough
AUSSIE women have paid more than $10,000 to have dodgy breast implants removed that left them battling cancer. Now an implant maker will cover some costs — but victims want more.
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EXCLUSIVE
AN IMPLANT manufacturer will cover the costs of removing breast implants linked to a rare cancer that has been the subject of a News Corp investigation.
Allergan, the company that makes the textured Biocell (Natrelle ConfidencePlus) implant identified as putting women at higher risk of a rare cancer of the immune system, has upgraded the warranty on its products.
The company says it will now cover $5,000 of the out of pocket medical costs women face when they have the implants removed and it will also provide them with new implants for free.
But women affected by the cancer say the money is not enough, the offer of new implants is offensive and they fear many may miss out under fine print contained in the warranty.
The $5,000 payment is also less than the $7,500 offered to American women. The company says this is because the value has been calculated based on the typical costs of recommended correction in Australia.
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Australian women affected by the cancer have been forced to pay over $10,000 out of their own pockets to have the implants removed as many insurers claim its plastic surgery and won’t cover it.
News Corp has been campaigning for the company to cover the cost of removing the implants after we revealed an alarming 56.5 per cent increase in cancer cases in the last 18 months with 72 Australian women now contracting the rare disease and three dying from it.
The new Allergan payments only apply to cancer cases diagnosed after January 1, 2018.
“The warranty is a lifetime warranty for financial assistance of up to AU $5,000 and replacement of implants at no charge for any new diagnosis of BIA-ALCL on/after January 1, 2018,” Allergan said.
Women who have a medical diagnosis of BIA-ALCL and a current history of Allergan devices should speak with their doctor about the warranty payment the company said.
“We manage claims accordingly on a case-by-case basis,” Allergan said.
The company said it had so far had “very limited enquiries in Australia regarding Allergan’s Global Breast Implant Warranty to date”.
“Exact numbers cannot be shared due to data privacy laws regarding information that may lead to patients being identified,” it said.
One in five of the 40,000 women a year who get breast implants in Australia had a textured biocell implant and 61 cancer cases have been linked to the implant so far.
Twenty three cancer cases have been linked to another textured implant made by Silimed that has been withdrawn from sale around the world after problems in the manufacturing process.
News Corp has asked whether that company will join Allergan and provide a warranty payment to women affected by cancer.
Sydney mum Stacey Franks who developed the rare cancer 10 years after getting rough textured Biocell implants fears she won’t be eligible for the rebate and questions whether the company has done enough.
Ms Franks had her implants removed in March this year and the surgery cost her $11,000.
Recently she had to have a second surgical procedure to remove all the remaining implant near her pectoral muscle and that left her $4,000 out of pocket.
Stacey says she was unaware of the warranty payment at the time she had her breast implants removed and her surgeon did not tell her about it.
The Collaroy nurse now faces regular expensive tests to monitor whether the cancer returns.
“I have to have a PET scan that costs $1,400 every 4-5 months, regular mammograms and ultrasounds every 3-6 months plus blood work,” she says.
The company’s $5,000 payment did not come close to covering her health bills, she said.
“I think it’s a token gesture by the company to make themselves feel better,” she says.
The cancer associated with the breast implants was first reported in medical literature over 12 years ago and it’s not good enough to limit the warranty to cancer cases occurring after January 2018 she says.
“Compensation needs to be on an individual basis not a flat rate,” she says.
The offer by Allergan to provide women with the cancer with a free set of replacement implants is “ridiculous”, she says.
“I’m offended by that. These implants have given me lymphoma (cancer), why would I want to put something that has given me lymphoma back into my body again,” she says.
Worldwide around 500 cases of the BIA-ALCL cancer have been linked to breast implants and there have been 16 deaths.