PIP implants scandal: French court ruling expected
Some 400,000 women across the world were fitted with faulty PIP implants
A French court is to rule on whether a German company should pay compensation to thousands of women who were fitted with defective breast implants.
TUV Rheinland awarded European safety certificates to the French firm, PIP, which made the implants.
The company used sub-standard silicone gel, causing many implants to rupture.
Implant distributors and 1,700 women are suing TUV Rheinland for 50m euros (£42m), arguing anything but a cursory inspection would have found problems.
PIP (Poly Implant Prothese) was shut down in March 2010 amidst a worldwide health scare.
The BBC's Christian Fraser in Paris says Thursday's verdict in Toulon will determine whether the German company bears any responsibility for the alleged fraud.
TUV Rheinland awarded PIP - formerly one of the world's leading suppliers of implants - its European safety certificate for 17 years.
Some 400,000 women across the world were fitted with faulty implants made by PIP.
The founder of the company, Jean Claude Mas, is still on trial for fraud in Marseilles. He revealed during police interviews that he had ordered employees to hide the unauthorised silicone when inspectors visited his factory.
It has since emerged the substandard gel was used in 75% of the implants.
The court heard an employee in charge of quality control had only a cooking diploma - another in charge of the lab had previously trained as a pastry chef, our correspondent says.
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