Czechs say women should replace PIP implants

A nurse displays a cleaned defective silicone gel breast implant, manufactured by French company Poly Implant Prothese (PIP), after being removed from a patient by plastic surgeon Denis Boucq (not pictured) in a clinic in Nice January 5, 2012.

PRAGUE (Reuters) - Czech women with silicone breast implants manufactured by a French firm accused of using unapproved industrial-grade material should have them replaced, a Health Ministry spokesman said on Thursday.

A commission set up by the ministry will recommend the replacement of the implants on Friday to an estimated 2,000 Czech women, ministry spokesman Vlastimil Srsen said.

"Tomorrow we will give out a recommendation for all patients, health clinics and health insurers," Srsen said.

The question of who will pay for operations for women who received implants for medical reasons, such as cancer patients, will be settled in the coming weeks, he said.

The death from cancer last year of a French woman using the implants made by the now-defunct Poly Implant Prothese SA (PIP) has caused a global health scare.

The Czech pharmaceuticals authority on Tuesday called for women with PIP breast implants to undergo checks, but the authorities said they had not been alerted to any cases of implants rupturing or otherwise malfunctioning.

The implants were banned by the Czech Republic in 2010.

Some 300,000 women around the world bought implants made by PIP, which went bankrupt in 2010 after an official investigation revealed it was using cheaper, industrial-grade silicone in some of its products.