Saturday 4 February 2012

Quick! The Tiny Violin, Once More!

Paula Middleton, 35, of Chinook, Colchester, had the £4,250 surgery five years ago to boost her from an AA to a C cup.

Now one of the silicon implants, made by French company Poly Implant Prothese, has leaked into her lymph nodes and Miss Middleton cannot afford to have it taken out.
And, this is anyone else’s problem…how?
The part-time Tesco worker said her surgeons in London’s Harley Street had quoted her £1,500 to correct the operation because they are prioritising ruptured implants over leaking ones.
Quite rightly.
Her GP is unable to refer her on the NHS because the procedure is considered cosmetic.
Again, quite rightly.
Miss Middleton said the stress and worry was making her ill and even her six-year-old son was concerned.

She said: “All I want is for someone to get the silicon out of my body.

“I’m not after suing anyone or compensation, but I can’t afford to get the implants removed. I am worried about my health and if they are harming me.”
Well, you should have thought of that before you had them done, shouldn’t you?
Miss Middleton has turned to Braintree-based legal firm Holmes & Hills and Colchester MP Sir Bob Russell in a bid for help to get them removed.
Oh, for…!
She said: “I’m not a hypochondriac, but every cold or pain I get I relate to the implants.

I’m not the sort of person to have regrets, but I wish I had never had them done.

“The last three weeks I have been suffering from total paranoia. My work friends have noticed the change in me.

I have even had to put plans to have another baby on hold while this hangs over me.”
Another baby?!? For a part-time Tesco worker who claims she can’t afford £1500 to have her leaky implants fixed?

*explodes*

15 comments:

Captain Haddock said...

"Miss Middleton said the stress and worry was making her ill and even her six-year-old son was concerned" ...

There are certain things one should & should not discuss with a six-year-old .. and your leaky silicone tits aren't one of them madam ..

"I’m not the sort of person to have regrets, but I wish I had never had them done" ...

I believe this is known within the trade as being a "contradiction in terms" missus ..

You'll just have to pay for their removal in the same way you paid for their insertion .. i.e. out of your own pocket !!

Like they say in Russian Breast Augmentation surgeries .. "Toughski Titsky" ... ;)

John Tee said...

I understand that breast implants are rarely permanent; they will usually need removing or replacing sooner or later. How was she going to fund that I wonder?

Tattyfalarr said...

Her 6 year old is "concerned" ? Frankly, I'm concerned her 6 year old knows anything about it at all.

It's not right how todays chidlren know so much about an adult world and mainly as a result of adults dumping their problems on them and using them as human shields.

I dunno about you Julia but in our day me and my sibLings knew nothing of our parents problems and mainly because it wasn't considered our business. We certainly weren't expected to be able to do anything about it...much less add to the queue of hand-wringers.

Poor kid :(

manwiddicombe said...

I'm not sure if Sir Bob's varied journalistic career qualifies him to remove the implants? Personally I'd ask a doctor [/sarcasm]

Macheath said...

'Another baby?!?'

It's one of the unexpected legacies of feminism; the repetition of 'a woman's right to choose' and 'our bodies, ourselves' has taken us to a point where women assume an absolute right to reproduce regardless of whether they have the means to support the child.

I'm starting to think that the feminist activists of the 70s and 80s (and I admit I was one) drastically overestimated both the intelligence and the social responsibility of the female population at large; we naively believed that, if you educated women and gave them access to birth control, the result would be smaller families and better living standards for all - after all, it was working in the third world.

What we didn't take into account is the infantile selfishness that permeates today's popular culture and the all-encompassing welfare state, which is, these days, not so much a safety-net as a trampoline, providing endless bouncy fun for a generation of mothers who never grew up.

PS - I believe I noticed a comment from you on the article when it first appeared. They seem to have taken the comments down since; I don't think you're alone in your opinion.

Clarissa said...

As she was sold a dud she shouldn't be paying for their removal, the clinic should. Sale of Goods Act etc. I assume that the £1.5k is the cost to queue jump?

If she can't find the money now, how did she afford them originally?

A salt and battered said...

".. "Toughski Titsky" ... ;)" Oops, there goes another dozen keyboards; more casualties of our resident wit.

At the very least, goods and services were sold to the prejudice of Ms Middleton. Surgeons and the third party supplier, cannot be blind to what a client is owed in contractual and legal terms but it is perhaps a vain hope that any profiteer would remedy a defect out of recognition of moral obligations.

Notwithstanding the above, I cannot agree with an apparent view of her GP; namely removal of contaminated silicon is by itself a cosmetic procedure. Extraction of any toxic substance from the body must qualify for NHS treatment and it would be unthinkable for the NHS to argue otherwise.

Anonymous said...

Don't know the full circumstances, but when i have had surgery on the NHS they have outlined possible consequences and side-effects which i have had to accept as part of the risk of surgery.

To equate it with Sale of Goods etc is perhaps simplistic. Can i sue Oil of Ulay for not getting rid of my wrinkles and the distress it has caused me?


This has not altered my desire for a penis extension and should it not work, i will do the sensible thing and talk it over with my six year old son...!!

Feminism....a burden for the taxpayer.

Captain Haddock said...

"This has not altered my desire for a penis extension ... "

If you do decide to go ahead, under no circumstances, allow yourself to be talked into the "baby elephant's trunk" version ..

I once heard about a bloke who did that & every time he walked past a baker's shop .. it used to uncoil and ram cream buns up his chuff .. ;)

Muggins said...

If these silicone implants had been stamped (ho hum) with The British Standard Kitemark, I would hazard a guess that this problem would not have arose.
The manufacturer pays for this service and their product is tested, and the manufacturing process is assessed, at regular intervals.

CE marking attached to a product is a manufacturer's claim that it meets all the requirements of the European legislation.

To me, it's a failure of an incompetent regulatory body, who should be paying out, albeit, we taxpayers still end up paying anyway.

Magnus o'Pus said...

Ha ha ha. The Cap'n's really on top form tonight. That he is.

Mrs Grey said...

That's it, Melvin, there'll be bromide in your mince from now on.

Sorry, Captain and Mr o'P too.

Gallovidian said...

"all-encompassing welfare state, which is, these days, not so much a safety-net as a trampoline, providing endless bouncy fun for a generation of mothers who never grew up."

Well put.

JuliaM said...

"There are certain things one should & should not discuss with a six-year-old..."

Indeed! As Tattyfalar says, 'poor kid!'

"I understand that breast implants are rarely permanent.."

Good point! Perhaps she intended to be a full-time Tesco worker by the time that rolled around?

"I'm not sure if Sir Bob's varied journalistic career qualifies him to remove the implants? Personally I'd ask a doctor [/sarcasm]"

:D

"...providing endless bouncy fun for a generation of mothers who never grew up."

Spot on!

JuliaM said...

" I assume that the £1.5k is the cost to queue jump?"

I'd imagine so. As ASAB and Muggins point out, this is a failure of the manufacturer, but proving that may take longer than she wants.