It looks like their stance was, "We made the game this way. If players are unhappy with the mechanics we implemented, this may not be the right game for those players."
It's apparently newsworthy that they're backpedaling from their previous statements; Now they might be willing to take a second look at the complaints.
I'd say this is plausible, but not a huge risk. A healthy individual won't have trouble either breaking it down or expelling the foreign matter when the flesh heals (like wooden splinters often do).
I'm not an expert, though, and I'd love for one to chime in on this subject!