UK government investigating the scale of harm caused by vaginal mesh implants

Our legal team have been assisting people in various situations involving harm caused by vaginal mesh implants.

The UK government review update is welcome news.

Years after the UK’s Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) investigated issues and decided against recalls and bans, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has suggested the surgery should be banned, and New Zealand have become the first country in the world to put an outright ban in place.

MHRA still say vaginal mesh procedures largely effective

The MHRA say that only 1-3% of procedures fail and have previously commented on the effectiveness of the procedure for the majority of the over 100,000 women who are estimated to have had the procedure. But other statistics indicate that the failure-rate could be as high as 10%, and with the severity of the problems that can be caused in the event the procedure does fail, it certainly warrants further investigation.

Some patients have been left with lifelong complications that have resulted in constant pain and a loss of bladder control and sexual function. Some patients have died as a result of complications that are being linked to the use of vaginal mesh devices that have failed.

What’s the current advice for women considering the vaginal mesh procedure?

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) advises women as follows:

“If you are considering a procedure using mesh, you should have a detailed discussion with an expert healthcare professional about the benefits and risks of the surgery for you. If you decide to go ahead with a procedure using mesh, the operation should only be performed by a specialist with expertise in this technique.”

Can vaginal mesh patients claim?

The devices are not necessarily classed as defective at the moment, although the skill and expertise of surgeons has been heavily debated and linked to higher rates of failure.

Dr Angamuthu Arunkalaivanan of the Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospital Group was found to have been conducting vaginal mesh procedures despite the fact that his own Trust had banned the procedure voluntarily. Because of this, there is no guarantee that Dr Arunkalaivanan adhered to stringent NICE guidelines about continuing use of the vaginal mesh procedure, and a recall was put in place.

As such, the skill of the surgeon and whether they have adhered to strict guidelines should be investigated for any women whose vaginal mesh devices have failed. If guidelines haven’t been properly followed, or where the skill of the surgeon is in question, this should be looked at.