Over 6,000 women demand compensation for faulty breast implants in Amsterdam court

A lawsuit against breast implant company Abbvie starts in the Amsterdam court on Friday. Woman’s rights organization Bureau Clara Wichmann is demanding damages suffered due to defective breast implants. Over 6,000 women have registered for compensation that can amount to 900 million euros in total.

The women involved want to remove their “textured” Biocell or Natrelle implants by Abbvie due to safety risks. In 2017, the RIVM concluded that women with these textured implants have a 400 times greater risk of developing a rare form of lymphatic cancer - Breast Implant-Associated Anaplastic Large-Cell Lymphoma (BIA-ALCL). Though the chance is still very small.

The chance that a woman will develop BIA-ALCL by the time she is 75 is around 1 in 7,000. In the Netherlands, 90 women with breast implants have been diagnosed with BIA-ALCL. But the group of women living in fear of this cancer is much larger, Clara Wichman pointed out. Around 60,000 women in the Netherlands have these types of implants.

The compensation claimed is intended for the removal of the implants, the reconstruction of the breast, and the pain and suffering caused by the procedure. Clara Wichman wants compensation for every woman who wants to remove the implants. The demand of 900 million euros is based on the 60,000 women who have these implants.

“Some women experience complaints, others do not. All have the right to good information,” Clara Wichmann said. “With this lawsuit, we want to make it possible for them to receive compensation for a defective product. Women should be able to choose for themselves whether they want to have their implants replaced or not.”

According to NOS, similar cases are underway against Abbvie throughout Europe and the United States. It is unclear how the pharmaceutical company views the lawsuits because it has refused to comment while the matter is before the courts.