Post date: Oct 29, 2012 3:21:39 PM
Jean-Claude Mas, the Frenchman whose company sparked a global health scare by selling sub-standard breast implants, is set to be released from prison on bail ahead of his trial in April next year, judicial sources say.
AIX-EN-PROVENCE, FRANCE (JULY 17, 2012) (REUTERS) - Jean-Claude Mas, the Frenchman who set off a global health scare by selling substandard health implants, was set to be released on bail Monday (October 29) after spending eight months in prison, judicial sources said.
Founder of the now defunct company Poly Implant Prothese (PIP), Mas who will leave the southern French Pontet detention centre under judicial supervision pending his trial in April 2013, was due to be released in July this year, but was detained as prosecutors feared he posed a flight risk.The PIP scandal made headlines worldwide last December after French authorities opened an investigation following the death from cancer in 2010 of a woman with PIP implants.
73-year-old Mas and a second PIP executive were seized at their homes in southern France in January, with Mas facing charges of causing bodily harm.
PIP enjoyed years of success with international sales, but behind the scenes employees, and Mas himself, have admitted to hiding from certification agencies the fact they were using cheap, industrial silicone, not approved for medical use.
French inspectors ordered the PIP implants off the market in March 2010, due to concerns over their quality and officials in Paris recommended their surgical removal, drawing attention to the problem for patients worldwide who had been fitted with products from the company, which was at one time the third biggest global supplier.