Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Over the weekend, the TGA announced Medicare rebates for scans to check whether French PIP breast implants are faulty following pressure to support patients who have received this inferior product. Coincidently, the Channel 9 60 Minutes program ran a story on Sunday night which featured a number of women who had concerns about their PIP breast implants. One of the biggest concerns for these women is finding out what is actually inside their bodies, and another concern is how they are going to be able to afford to have the implants removed. According to the TGA, up until 9 March this year, they had received some 29 unconfirmed reports and another 171 confirmed reports of rupture of PIP breast implants from surgeons and patients throughout Australia.

Unfortunately, I have recently received advice from a constituent that her daughter is currently suffering from a ruptured PIP breast implant. She advised me that it was a friend of her daughter who alerted her to this fact, not the surgeon involved. The surgeon has since advised that the removal of the existing implants and insertion of new implants will cost approximately $7½ thousand. This is a cost she simply cannot afford. The daughter is only 21-years-old and is already significantly concerned about the situation she is in. I have written to the TGA and to the Minister for Health asking what steps are being taken, and I ask both the minister and the TGA to— (Time expired)