Faulty breast implant fraud trial

Jan Spivey was given PIP breast implants after having cancer, outside the court in Marseilles, where she is giving evidence in the trial of Jean-Claude Mas, Jan said she was, "heartbroken to see man who has created so much suffering to to many women."

The head of the French company that is accused of selling 300,000 faulty breast implants has gone on trial.

Here is a look back at the breast implant scandal:

• Poly Implant Prothèse (PIP) was founded by Jean-Claude Mas in 1991.
• Before the company went into liquidation in 2011, it is thought around 300,000 women were sold faulty breast implants.
• Concerns were first raised in France over PIP's high rupture rate in 2009.

• In 2010, France suspended the marketing, distribution, export and use of PIP implants.
• The French government said it recommended all women with the implants to have them removed in late 2011.
• A review ordered by the Health Secretary found that PIP implants were more likely to rupture or leak.

• Mas offered an apology on April 24, 2013, for the implants, saying: "I apologise to the plantiffs for the gel used by PIP since 1992."
• The Frenchman and four PIP executives face aggravated fraud charges and face five years each in prison.

Information from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.