Singles Women

Women Fret Over Implants, Line Up at Doctor’s Offices

In Venezuela, where women seem to love going under the knife, hundreds are lining up at doctor’s offices worried breast implants.

The office of plastic surgeon Ignacio Sousa in Caracas is packed. College students in their 20s, housewives in their 40s, middle-class office workers: nearly all are fearful that their breast implants may be leaking.

Thousands of women worldwide are consulting their doctors about health concerns that have sprung up since December due to faulty silicone breast implants made by the now-defunct French company Poly Implant Prothese, or PIP. In some cases, the implants filled with industrial-grade silicone have split open, prompting growing demand for their removal.