There are many important issues here. It's topical, and now non-surgical cosmetic procedures such as botox injections are in the headlines because regulation of them is worse than private cosmetic surgery.
For the minority of members who are interested :- " Informed consent " ( risks and benefits ) by the patient should always be sought before any medical or surgical procedure. No one can claim they don't already know the risks of smoking, excess alcohol, or poor diet, when they choose ( consent ) to indulge. Paying " sin " tax on them only contributes part of the cost of future NHS treatment. If it transpires that the women who had PIP implants were misinformed about the risks, then private providers should arrange for removal at no expense, if necessary forced by the Government to do so. It's not cheap - perhaps 150m GBP ( although that's less than 1% of the NHS budget ). But if neither the surgeons nor the patients knew the real risk at the time, there is an analogy with smoking half a century ago. Treatment of its consequences was neither denied then nor is it now.
What disturbs me is that 1 in 9 women may have to face surgery for breast cancer at some time in their lives. But it's claimed that 30% of women want to look like Cheryl Cole, and significant percentages like Nicole Scherzinger, Jennifer Lopez, and Rihanna ... paying for plastic surgery to do so ...at vast expense and with variable success.
