This new decision adds to the cascade of judgments in this file. The certifier should appeal.
Le Monde with AFP
Already compensated thousands of victims, TÜV Rheinland, the German certifier of PIP, defective breast prostheses, was convicted, Thursday, January 13, in France to compensate 1,600 complainants of twenty-three nationalities, for a Total of at least 8 million euros, announced the association of PIPA victims.
These complainants claimed 6,000 euros in provision of the injury suffered before the Commercial Court. They obtained 5,000 euros, much more so that the 3,000 euros of provision attributed to the first victims.
TÜV is “fully responsible without limitation or restriction and must quickly compensate all victims without exception,” reacted Olivier Louvair, PIPA’s lawyer. In a statement, the certifier, who should appeal, “affects that judgment firmly in that he has retained a responsibility of the notified body”.
More than ten years after the discovery of the Var manufacturer’s fraud of mammary prostheses founded by Jean-Claude Mas, whose death, in 2019, put an end to the prosecution, the judicial proceedings continue against the German certifier , who had never seen shortcomings.
This scandal had erupted as a result of a control of the National Medicine Safety Agency and Health Products in March 2010. It had noted an abnormal rate of rupture of implants that were completed, for the sake of Economy, with a craft freeze in place of the required silicone gel.
Series of judicial decisions
This new decision is in addition to the cascade of judicial decisions in this file, close to its epilogue. The Court of Appeal of Aix-en-Provence confirmed in February 2021 the judgment of the Toulon Commercial Court of January 2017 which sentenced the German certifier to pay € 3,000 to about 20,000 other complainants. The Court of Appeal nevertheless estimated that some 6,000 of them were finally not admissible.
At the end of May, the Court of Appeal of Paris had also confirmed TÜV’s responsibility in another component, however, restricting this responsibility to the period of the 1 ER September 2006 to 6 April 2010, making the demands of several hundred women on the 2,500 concerned, Colombian, Venezuelan or English in particular.
Conversely, two other courses of appeal, Versailles and Poitiers, have cleared Tüv Rheinland. The German company has appeared in cassation for the Aixoise and Paris decisions. “There were four court of appeal decisions in 2021: two fully favorable, an entirely unfavorable, in Aix, and a mixed, in Paris. Today, there are several files before the Court of Cassation and we hope That she will bring us lighting to guide the judges “on this issue, has reacted Christelle Coslin, TÜV lawyer, interviewed by AFP.
It is estimated that 400,000, around the world, the number of women with PIP implants.
TÜV Rheinland, a great product certification specialist, employs 20,000 people around the world for a turnover of about 2 billion euros.