Request from Dr. Christian MARINETTI to FRANCE INFO for a denial of a press article URGENT under the legislation on the right of reply.
Madam,
Following the telephone interview you asked me to give you on Tuesday, September 25, 2018, and the text you published on your channel's internet media concerning breast implants, I hereby expressly request that you publish this email in its entirety on the morning of September 28, 2018, as a retraction of the statements you wrongly attributed to me, and that you relay this retraction to all media outlets that reported on it:
Dr. Christian MARINETTI did not issue a warning on France Info on Tuesday, September 25, 2018, "to denounce certain breast implants": It was France Info, through you, that contacted me and questioned me as President of the last Temporary Specialized Scientific Committee (CSST) of the ANSM (French National Agency for Medicines and Health Products Safety) concerning Large Cell Lymphomas linked to breast implants (LAGC-AIM).
There is nothing "to denounce or suspect," as you mistakenly write: This type of lymphoma is extremely rare and has been studied transparently for several years by doctors and health authorities in France and many other countries working together on this issue. The work is difficult and time-consuming due to the large amount of data to be collected, its inaccuracy, the multitude of factors that may be involved, and the indispensability of certain breast implants for breast reconstruction after cancer mastectomy, which is entirely legitimate. Since 2014, all patients who are to undergo implantation have been legally informed of the existence of BIA-ALBID. There is no "scandal," there is no "culprit," no "fraud," there is no one to accuse and no "accusations to be made" as you mistakenly write. This is not the PIP case! ALLERGAN is a reputable manufacturer of breast implants and medical products and devices that, like other manufacturers, has participated transparently in studies on this type of lymphoma.The implant in question, the BIOCELL prosthesis, is not new, as you write, but has been around for some 20 years and is an essential implant, the most widely used in reconstructive breast surgery after breast cancer. It has enabled and continues to enable the best possible restoration of patients' body image after breast amputation. It is often unavoidable, as it is the only implant capable of fixing itself in the large spaces located under the flaps of skin and muscle transposed onto the chest from the back or abdomen to replace the removed tissue, the aim of the implant being to restore shape and volume. Implants other than BIOCELL may prove to be too mobile, moving around the chest and requiring numerous surgical procedures that are not without risk.
This is a very rare condition (approximately 600 cases reported worldwide as of last February out of approximately 40 million implant recipients, and 50 cases in France out of approximately 500,000 implant patients), which has nevertheless been actively addressed by health authorities, doctors, specialists from all fields, and manufacturers for several years.
Following the latest Scientific Committee meeting on the subject, held in February 2018 at the ANSM headquarters with all the specialists in the field, under my chairmanship, and the report we produced with the ANSM, plastic surgeons will meet in plenary session in Paris in November during the Annual Congress of the French Society of Plastic, Reconstructive, and Aesthetic Surgery (SOFCPRE) to evaluate, as with any therapy, the benefit/risk balance on this issue and issue recommendations in a collegial manner, with full information for the patients themselves and in their own interest.
I would be grateful if you could publish this text in its entirety on the FRANCE INFO website tomorrow morning and forward it to all the media outlets that have reproduced your text.
Done in Marseille on September 27, 2018
Dr. Christian MARINETTI