Report: French regulators acted too slowly on PIP breast implant scandal

French regulators could have taken substandard breast implants off the market as early as 2007, three years before they actually did, The Guardian reports, citing a story by the French investigative website Mediapart. The report is highly critical of France's medical safety agency for how it treated the now-defunct company Poly Implant Prothèse, which generated hysteria after disclosing it sold implants made from substandard materials from 2001 to 2010. French regulators learned about a spike in PIP breast implant ruptures as early as 2006, according to the story, and could have taken them off the market in 2007 or 2008. But the PIP implants weren't pulled until 2010. In 2011, French officials warned women with the affected implants to have them removed as a precaution. PIP's former CEO and several executives faced a fraud trial earlier this year related to the case, and a verdict is expected in December. The case also sparked a push in Europe to toughen regulatory scrutiny for devices. Story