Hospital's patent claim for toxic-gel removal false

A Shenzhen hospital offering free surgery to 100 victims of a toxic gel used in breast enlargements has falsely claimed its techniques for removing the gel are patented, a patent official said yesterday.

The gel, known as PAAG, was commonly used on the mainland, particularly in breast enlargements, until the State Food and Drug Administration banned it last month in response to concerns first raised by Hong Kong's Consumer Council about its safety.

The council warned the gel could cause cancer and said six women had had one or both breasts removed after PAAG injections went wrong.

The Shenzhen Peng Ai Medical Beauty Hospital, a subsidiary of the Peng Cheng Hospital Group, has been advertising free surgery to remove the gel using 'patented PAAG removal devices'.

But an official at the State Intellectual Property Office yesterday said no such patents had been awarded, and suggested the hospital 'was conducting false advertising based on false information'.

'It has not acquired any approval or certificate for its new devices,' the official, from the office's inquiry department, said.

The hospital claimed it could remove at least 90 per cent of the gel injected and immediately replace it with safe silicon implants. But leading surgeons including Qiao Qun and Qi Keming have said that once injected, the gel cannot be fully removed.