‘I have had to wait over four years and counting to rid myself of excruciating vaginal mesh’

June Dunne used to love walking but she is now plagued by such excruciating pain that she can no longer manage a 20-minute stroll to her local supermarket.

“I am on morphine patches every day,” the 64-year-old, who is from Liverpool, tells The Independent. “It stops me from going on nice walks. I used to walk everywhere, but now I just potter around the house. I no longer walk to the shops. The supermarket is about a 20-minute walk - my son takes me in the car.”

Ms Dunne explains she got vaginal mesh implanted 14 years ago but the mesh did not work and has instead left her in agony - adding that she has been on a waiting list to have the mesh removed since 2019.

She is not alone; earlier in the month it emerged 140 women who experienced distressing side effects after getting vaginal mesh implants have won payouts expected to stretch into millions of pounds in England.

The women, whose case is the first successful group claim in England, have come to a settlement with the manufacturers Johnson & Johnson, Bard, and Boston Scientific but the exact amount of the payments is yet to be revealed. 

They claimed the implants, which are for stress urinary incontinence and prolapse, caused infection, bleeding, chronic pain, bladder and bowel perforations, and problems urinating, among other complications.

Many of the women were forced to have surgery to get the mesh removed and some still have ongoing issues as a result of the implants.

Lisa Lunt, partner at Pogust Goodhead, the law firm representing the women over the vaginal mesh claims, told The Independent: “Women implanted with transvaginal mesh have experienced years of chronic pain and suffering.

“Hundreds of women were prevented from making a claim due to strict 10-year time limits that are in force from the date that the product was manufactured. It’s about time that the government took action to increase the time limits."

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Source: The Independent, 28 August 2024