Faulty breast implants: French court upholds 4-year sentence
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
May 2, 2016: Jean-Claude Mas, founder and former owner of French company PIP, or Poly Implant Prothese, arrives for the verdict in his appeal trial in Aix en Provence, southern France. (AP)
A French appeals court has upheld a four-year prison sentence against a maker of fraudulent breast implants that were given to tens of thousands of women worldwide from 2001 to 2010.
The appeals court in the southern town of Aix-en-Provence found Jean-Claude Mas, 76, the founder and former owner of the French company PIP, guilty Monday of aggravated fraud and fined him 75,000 euros ($86,000).
The judges, upholding a 2013 lower court judgment, barred Mas from any job in the health sector and from running any company. He has not been jailed during the appeals, which could continue.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
His company's implants contained industrial-grade silicone instead of medical silicone and were prone to leakage. They were not available in the United States, but at least 125,000 women worldwide received them.