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Cheap breast implant surgery in Asia and Mexico linked to cancer

WOMEN travelling to Asia and Mexico for cheap breast surgery are getting high risk implants linked to cancer and some have received devices with no brand or serial numbers.

Breast implants linked to surge in cancer

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EVERY breast implant used in Australia will now be recorded on a national register to help track cancer cases with Health Minister Greg Hunt and Labor calling for action as a result of a News Corp campaign.

It comes as we reveal that four Australian women travelling overseas to get cheap breast implants have contracted a rare cancer and some have been fitted with dodgy no name, no serial number devices.

News Corp last week revealed there had been a 56 per cent increase in cases of a rare cancer called ALCL linked to breast implants with 72 cases reported and three deaths in Australia.

In response to News Corp’s campaign for better monitoring and compensation for victims, Health Minister Minister Greg Hunt said the fact not all doctors were reporting the devices to a national registry was is an important issue, and he was focused on supporting patients.

“The Minister has asked the Chief Medical Officer, Professor Brendan Murphy, to investigate this issue immediately,” he said.

“States and territories play a key role in reporting this information and the use of registries will be discussed with all health ministers at COAG Health Council later this year.”

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Health Minister Greg Hunt wants action on monitoring breast implants. Picture AAP Lukas Coch
Health Minister Greg Hunt wants action on monitoring breast implants. Picture AAP Lukas Coch

Opposition health spokeswoman Catherine King said if Labor wins the next election she would make participation in the registry mandatory.

“If I’m Health Minister after the next election I will pursue this change. Minister Hunt should explain why he hasn’t already done so,” she said.

Five cancer clusters linked to breast implants have been identified and the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons said some discount providers and high volume doctors are refusing to take part in the registry.

When all devices implanted into Australian women are listed on the registry it will be easier to monitor the spread of the cancer.

Shadow Minister for health, Catherine King wants breast implants listed on the breast device registry. Picture Alix Sweeney/News Corp
Shadow Minister for health, Catherine King wants breast implants listed on the breast device registry. Picture Alix Sweeney/News Corp

Australian doctors have recently slashed their use of high-risk breast implants associated with cancer but experts are warning that women who travel to Asia for cheap surgery are still getting them.

Today, we can reveal that four of those cancer cases are associated with breast implants put in during cut-price surgery deals in Thailand (2), Mexico (1) and China (1).

Professor Anand Deva whose research has exposed the extent of the cancer risk said he is deeply concerned one implant used in China associated with the cancer did not have a brand name or a serial number.

“We have no idea who made it, it’s a dodgy implant, could have dodgy fillers and no quality control,” he said.

Dr Rod Cooter, the doctor who helped set up Australia’s breast device registry which is tracking the growing number of cancer cases associated with breast implants, said overseas providers are using the higher risk textured devices.And women taking part in medical tourism are not being properly monitored for cancer because their doctors don’t carry out regular post-surgery checks and do not have to report to the Australian Breast Device Registry, he said.

Professor Anand Deva with Breast implants implicated in cancer. Picture: Supplied
Professor Anand Deva with Breast implants implicated in cancer. Picture: Supplied

Research by Professors Deva and Mark Magnusson identified women fitted with Silimed’s rough textured implant have a 23.5 per cent greater risk of cancer and those with Allergan’s Biocell implant a 16.5 per cent higher risk.

News Corp last week reported Biocell breast implant maker Allergan said women with these implants did not need regular screening to detect cancer.

The story should have said that was the Therapeutic Goods Administration’s advice. Allergan has made no such comment. Consumers should refer to the advice of the Therapeutic Goods Administration provided at http://www.tga.gov.au/alert/breast-implants-and-anaplastic-large-cell-lymphoma.

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It’s been estimated more than 15,000 Australians are travelling overseas to spend over $300 million a year on cheap medical services including breast enhancements.

Many return with serious infections and other adverse outcomes that have to be fixed by doctors in Australia and that’s how doctors know the types of breast implants being used overseas.

“We are picking some of them up by default when they come back home with problems,” Dr Cooter says.

“It is a source of concern to us that these providers are using textured implants (associated with a higher risk of cancer).”

A recent study on cosmetic surgery tourism published in the Australian New Zealand Journal of Surgery reported catastrophic outcomes including;

• Irreversible hypoxia brain injury (probably from poor anaesthesia);

• Two patient deaths;

• Infections and disfigurement linked to overseas breast implant surgery.

Fixing botched cosmetic tourism is costing the Australian health system $10 million a year Picture: iStock
Fixing botched cosmetic tourism is costing the Australian health system $10 million a year Picture: iStock

It cost the Australian health system $10 million to fix these sorts of complications and the paper warned there was no follow up care here after the surgery.

Dr Cooter said he was exploring the idea of setting up a side register for implants fitted overseas and is talking to the department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

He wants women travelling overseas for cheap breast implant surgery to take the registry’s standard data collection form with them, get the surgeon to fill it in and submit it when they return home.

With Hunt agreeing to make the reporting of implants used in each breast procedure to the Australian Breast Device Registry mandatory; News Corp will continue to campaign on;

* Require the companies that manufacture the implants linked to cancer to cover the cost of removing them when women develop the cancer;

* Require all cosmetic and plastic surgeons to check women with high risk breast implants for cancer every 12 months;

* Require all breast device companies to declare publicly any payments or discounts they provide to plastic and cosmetic surgeons;

* Require all breast implant manufacturers to supply their sales data to researchers so cancer incidence rates can be determined.

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The Australian Breast Device Registry was set up in 2015 to track problems with breast implants after a Senate inquiry into the PIP implant scandal where industrial not medical grade silicone was used in implants.

Three types of surgeons use breast implants — plastic surgeons, cosmetic surgeons and breast surgeons who insert them after mastectomies for breast cancer.

Around 500 surgeons (7 in 10 of those who use implants) are currently contributing data to the registry but this covers only around 60 per cent of implants used, said Dr Cooter.

Around five breast implant cancer clusters have been identified linked to discount and high volume providers.

The president of the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons Dr Mark Ashton says he is concerned these surgeons are not reporting to the registry.

“There are unethical practitioners out there who have the highest incidence of ALL and they are trying to camouflage the true incidence,” he said.

Even though the society has complained to the Australian health Practitioner regulation Agency about these doctors it has been slow to take action.

Originally published as Cheap breast implant surgery in Asia and Mexico linked to cancer

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Original URL: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/lifestyle/health/cheap-breast-implant-surgery-in-asia-and-mexico-linked-to-cancer/news-story/4eeefacfa0249d5db5654ecb36c9b511