Botched implants firms must pay the price for horrifying pain

-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)
-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)


Record readers have read countless stories about patients enduring horrifying pain over failed implants.

Any legal system worth its salt would have victims at its core but sadly this is not the case in the UK.

The status quo means a firm can only be sued for up to 10 years for a failed implant.

READ MORE:Scots victims of botched medical implants hit out over time limit to take legal action

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But the clock starts ticking on that from when the equipment leaves the factory, not when it enters the body.

This applies to devices including artificial joints, breast implants, pacemakers, contraceptives and the controversial mesh implants.

Lives have been ruined by faulty implants yet manufacturers benefit from the 10-year rule.

That is why we support the campaign to raise the limit so firms can be sued for up to 20 years.

Changing the law is a matter for Westminster and it is up to MPs to step up to the plate.

Labour were elected on a promise to support patients and boost fairness across huge swathes of public life.

But the 10-year limit is one area in which big companies are protected at the expense of ordinary punters.

Glasgow South West MP Zubir Ahmed, who is the PPS to Health Secretary Wes Streeting, has said he is willing to meet campaigners.

Ahmed is a rising star in the Labour group and we welcome his positive response.

The law on seeking redress for faulty implants is out of date and desperately needs modernised.

We wish the campaigners every success.

Flamingo’s flown

Board members at the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park Authority must today reject Flamingo Land’s unwelcome proposal to build a mega resort on the banks of Loch Lomond.

Their decision today should be the final nail in the coffin for a project their own planning officials recommended to be refused.

A 150-page report made it clear Flamingo Land’s proposal was too big and would go against the Authority’s stated aim of preserving the area’s “natural and cultural heritage”.

The report and the strength of opposition to the plans – including a petition signed by 150,000 people – should inform the board members’ decision.

The saga has run for almost a decade and all sides of the argument have been aired ad nauseam.

It is now time to draw the matter to a close.

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