World
Six Hong Kong women lose breasts after operation
By IANS
Apr 15, 2006 - 6:26:00 PM

Health officials here Thursday warned women to avoid controversial breast enlargement gel injections after six women lost parts of their breasts due to complications.

Fifty-three women from Hong Kong have complained of complications such as infections and abscesses after having polyacrylamide gel injected into their breasts.

Six women had to have parts of their breasts surgically removed after suffering severe complications from the operation, a spokesman for the health department here said.

Ninety percent of the women who suffered complications had the gel injected at hospitals across the border in mainland China while the other victims had operations in Hong Kong and Thailand.

Hong Kong is now liasing with customs officials to ban the use of the gel for breast enlargements and is warning women not to use the treatment, the spokesman said.

Gel injections are an old-fashioned enlargement treatment using a combination of synthetic polymer and water, which experts say is non-biodegradable and cannot be absorbed into the body.

Hong Kong's Consumer Council has handled dozens of complaints about the breast gel injections and said some women who received the treatment could not breast feed babies.

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