French Police Detain Founder of Breast Implant Maker
The founder of a French company that made hundreds of thousands of breast implants from industrial-grade silicone, causing anxiety among women around the world, was detained in a dawn raid on his home in southern France, the authorities said Thursday.
The founder, Jean-Claude Mas, could be held for questioning for 48 hours in a manslaughter investigation that began after a woman whose implants ruptured died from a rare form of cancer, according to an official with the Marseille prosecutor’s office said. Mr. Mas’s former deputy, Claude Couty, was also arrested. Mr. Mas’s lawyer was advising him during questioning Thursday morning and could not be reached for comment, his office said.
French prosecutors typically file charges only after an initial informal phase of investigation is completed. Mr. Mas, who is also the subject of additional investigations related to the implants, has not been charged with any crime.
The company Mr. Mas founded, Poly Implants Prothèses, was closed by the authorities in March 2010 and liquidated, following revelations that it had used industrial-grade silicone, not surgical grade, to save money on the hundreds of thousands of implants it sold in countries around the world.
full: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/27/world/europe/french-police-arrest-founder-of-breast-implant-maker.html