Breast implants: NHS bill already in six figures The figures show only about one in 15 former private clinic clients who have undergone NHS scans to see if their implants have ruptures, has opted for NHS removal. Anne Milton, the Public Health Minister, claimed: "This appears to show that these women are getting the reassurance they need from speaking to an expert or having a scan." However, Fazel Fatah, president of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, (Baaps), disagreed, describing the low removal rate as "entirely unsurprising." "It's clear that only very few are opting for removal without replacement," he said. Taking out implants and not replacing them would leave breasts "smaller and droopier" than before the initial operation, he explained. For women who had opted for enlargement in the first place because of a problem with their own body image, this would ne unbearable, he argued. "The statistics demonstrate that the great majority of women with PIP implants will have to depend on the private sector for the replacement of these faulty devices," he said. There may be some who prefer to leave them in for a time while they decide on their options, but they're unlikely to be many. The Department of Health has sought to keep costs down by only offering removal on the NHS. Although Andrew Lansley, the Health Secretary, said last month that women with PIPs would be able to get them removed for free even if they had not ruptured, he made clear replacement was never going to be part of the NHS offer too. Mr Fatah added: "These figures show that a significant proportion of patients have not had the help and reassurance they need - and deserve - from private clinics." On Friday morning Sir Kent Woods, chief executive of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) reiterated the organisation's stance that PIP implants appeared to be no more dangerous than those from reputed manufacturers. He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the rupture rate for PIPs was "not significantly different" to two leading brands, which had rates of 10 to 15 per cent over 10 years. He also said results of toxicology tests in the UK, France and Australia were "reassuring." However, he agreed that women should be able to have them out on "compassionate" rather than "risk / benefit grounds."