The German TÜV certifier of defective PIP breast prostheses, which had already been ordered to compensate thousands of victims, was ordered by a French court on Thursday to compensate 7,000 new complainants, the Pipa victims’ association said.
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These plaintiffs, from Colombia and Argentina, but also from Scotland, England and France, have been awarded 2,500 euros (more than 3,600 dollars) in compensation for the damage suffered before the Commercial Court of Toulon (south-eastern France), for a total of 17.5 million euros (March 25, 2019). .5 million dollars).
That’s less than the €5,000 (more than $7,200) received from more than 1,600 other plaintiffs a year ago, but that sum is equivalent to the €3,000 (more than $4,300) in commissions awarded to the first victims.
For Me Olivier Aumaître, lawyer for the Pipa victims, this renewed “overwhelming” decision for TÜV proves that the new lawsuits are “still admissible”, particularly because the experts have recognized the existence of permanent fear damage.
“We find it unfortunate to have a first instance court to decide when we are a few weeks away from decisions by the Court of Cassation on several conflicting judgments,” Christelle Coslin, TÜV’s lawyer, told AFP.
As a result, and because they “disagree” with this decision, TÜV Rheinland – which employs 20,000 people with a turnover of around €2 billion – will certainly appeal.
For the German certifier, the bill could ultimately run into hundreds of millions of euros, estimates Pipa, who has identified 35,000 victims in the lawsuit and is on the verge of finding an epilogue.
More than ten years after fraud was uncovered at PIP, a manufacturer of breast prostheses in France, whose founder Jean-Claude Mas died in 2019, ending the lawsuits surrounding the company, the court cases against the certifier, who had never found any defects, are ongoing.
This scandal erupted after an inspection by the National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products (ANSM) in March 2010. This French agency had found an unusual rupture rate of PIP implants filled with a non-compliant craft gel instead of the required silicone gel to save money.