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BIP silicone breast implants (archive image)
Photo: Guillaume Horcajuelo / picture alliance / dpa
In the scandal surrounding inferior breast implants from the French manufacturer Poly Implant Prothèse (PIP), an appeals court has ruled that TÜV Rheinland is responsible.
The court in Aix-en-Provence was of the opinion that the company had violated its obligations in the certification of PIP production, it said in a statement.
The court thus confirmed in parts a fine of millions.
However, the court declared 6205 lawsuits to be inadmissible, as the documents submitted could not be used to ensure that the plaintiffs received the TÜV-certified implant.
The court provisionally awarded a further 13,456 plaintiffs € 3,500 in damages and ordered further medical examinations.
The appellate court thus largely confirmed a decision of the Commercial Court of Toulon from 2017. At that time, the court had ordered TÜV Rheinland to pay around 60 million euros in damages to the 20,000 plaintiffs.
The company appealed against this, but provisionally had to pay the women damages.
In France, immediate compensation payments can be ordered even if an appeal is pending.
Several proceedings are ongoing in France against TÜV Rheinland - the one in Aix-en-Provence is the largest.
In a case involving around 400 plaintiffs, the Versailles Court of Appeal had recently denied that TÜV was liable.
A decision is expected in May in another proceeding involving around 2000 plaintiffs.
The now insolvent manufacturer PIP had used cheap industrial silicone for its implants for years.
The implants, which are prone to tearing, are estimated to have been used in hundreds of thousands of women worldwide.
TÜV Rheinland had certified the quality assurance procedure from PIP.
The plaintiffs therefore accuse the testing company of sloppiness.
"It is a decisive victory after ten years of legal battle"
According to the court in Aix-en-Provence, the current decision is the first recognition of the liability of the TÜV in the PIP case by an appeals court.
For victim lawyer Olivier Aumaître, this decision paves the way to compensation for victims from all over the world.
"It is a decisive victory after ten years of legal struggle in the service of the victims," said a message from the victims' association PIPA World.
The appellate court came to the conclusion that TÜV Rheinland would have been obliged to check the origin of the materials used under the European ordinance on medical devices.
To do this, the inventory books of the manufacturer PIP should have been examined.
Such a control would have enabled TÜV and its French subcontractor to determine the discrepancy between the amount of gel purchased from the only approved supplier and the number of breast prostheses produced, the court said.
This finding should have resulted in unannounced inspections.
The TÜV, however, argues that it complied with the requirements of the relevant EU regulation.
TÜV Rheinland could not be accused of anything and acted conscientiously, said TÜV Rheinland's attorney, Christelle Coslin, before the decision was announced.
Due diligence and control obligations have not been violated.
According to the TÜV, PIP has deceived the inspectors.
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bbr / wit / dpa / AFP
