Jean-Claude Mas, head of company at centre of health scandal, imprisoned after not paying bail, judicial source says
Jean-Claude Mas, the Frenchman who sparked a global health scare by selling substandard breast implants, has been jailed after not paying his bail, according to a judicial source.
Mas was released from police custody on 27 January on bail of €100,000 (£83,000), and was banned from leaving the country or meeting former executives of his now defunct company, Poly Implant Prothese (PIP).
He faces a charge of causing bodily harm, although he is not under investigation for the graver charge of manslaughter. He was jailed on Monday night, the source said.
French authorities have been criticised for being slow to react to a case that has sown fear among the tens of thousands of women who have had the implants.
French inspectors ordered the implants off the market in March 2010, owing to concerns over their quality. But only in December did officials in Paris recommend 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.
Lawyers for women in France who have filed complaints over PIP implants welcomed the arrests and said there must be no escaping justice for the 72-year-old Mas, who has been quoted as deriding those suing him as being motivated only by money.
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