Andrew Lansley, the health secretary of UK, intends to pursue through the courts the cosmetic industry companies that are refusing free operations to women wanting substandard breast implants removed.
Lansley is prepared for a full-scale confrontation with the recalcitrant elements of the industry after the declaration of the Harley Medical Group that it will not pay for removal of the PIP implants that have triggered great anxiety in women in the UK and in France. Transform and the Hospital Group have also said that women will have to pay.
The health secretary is inviting women refused free help to go to their GP, who will refer them to an NHS hospital for removal — although not replacement — if that is what they want. But Lansley says the taxpayer should not be expected to foot the bill and the government will actively seek to recover the cost from the private chains.
“We will pursue them extremely aggressively through the courts,” a source close to Lansley said. “We will go after them.”