I agree that no patient should be left without appropriate healthcare if companies involved with providing PIP implants close, but the manufacturers and the companies that did the surgery do need to take responsibility.
If my car has an MOT and then breaks down, I am liable. If a manufacturer makes a faulty product that meets legal regulations, it is liable for recall and replacement of the parts. If I crash my car because of a faulty part, the NHS will sort me out without charging me. However, it may well chase the insurance companies for money.
I'm shocked that there is no insurance scheme to cover for this eventuality, even when the private cosmetic surgery companies closed down. Either the private companies had insurance, in which case the remedial surgery could be covered by the insurance company from the premium paid at the time of surgery, or the private companies classed the individual surgeons as private contractors, in which case the private surgeons needed to cover the work from their own indemnity schemes.
No GP wants women to suffer, but it's not acceptable that despite the millions that have been made by companies and surgeons who push cosmetic surgery, few of the main companies are taking any responsibility for this scandal.
We should not ‘privatise the profits and socialise the losses' for this.
If the private companies don't cough up I suggest a 20% state insurance premium for all private plastic surgery, both to recoup the cost to the NHS for remedial surgery and to cover future claims.
This is completely justifiable as the private companies are obviously incapable of arranging their own insurance schemes.
From Dr Simon Gilbert, Mitcham, Surrey
via pulsetoday.co.uk
