Background to the PIP breast implant scandal

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.