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Found 403 results
  1. News Article
    Naga Munchetty has said she spent decades being failed, gaslit and “never taken seriously” by doctors, despite suffering debilitatingly heavy periods, repeated vomiting and pain so severe that she would lose consciousness. The BBC presenter, newsreader and journalist told the Commons women and equalities committee on Wednesday that she was “deemed normal” and told to “suck it up” by NHS GPs and doctors during the 35 years she sought help for her symptoms. Munchetty was finally diagnosed with adenomyosis, a condition where the lining of the womb starts growing into the muscle in its walls, in November last year. She said she was consistently told by doctors that “everyone goes through this”. “I was especially told this by male doctors who have never experienced a period but also by female doctors who hadn’t experienced period pain,” said Munchetty. Munchetty’s diagnosis came after she had bled heavily for two weeks and experienced pain so severe she asked her husband to call an ambulance. Only then was she taken seriously, seeing a GP who specialised in women’s reproductive health. That GP advised her to use private healthcare to avoid lengthy NHS waiting lists. Munchetty and Vicky Pattison, a television and media personality, were giving evidence as part of the committee’s inquiry into the challenges that women face being diagnosed and treated for gynaecological and reproductive conditions. The committee is also considering any disparities that exist in diagnosis and treatment, and the impact of women’s experiences on their health and lives. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 19 October 2023
  2. News Article
    Derby and Burton’s maternity services are now among the “most challenged in England”, requiring national involvement to boost improvements. The University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust joins 31 other NHS trusts across England which are now under closer scrutiny aimed at improving the quality of maternity services. A report from the trust details that it asked to be added to the national NHS England Maternity Safety Support Programme (MSSP) "voluntarily". Midwifery and obstetric improvement advisors have now been allocated to the trust to spend two days a week on the trust’s sites and also to provide “virtual” assistance. A letter to Stephen Posey, the trust’s chief executive, sent by Sascha Wells-Munro, the deputy chief midwifery officer for NHS England, details that the organisation’s addition to the national support programme comes after a number of concerning reports – not just its request. It references the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch report, published in February, which highlighted the cases of seven women and their babies between January 2021 and May 2022, with three mothers and a baby dying and four mothers suffering extreme consequences. Read full story Source: Derbyshire Live, 13 September 2023
  3. News Article
    Millions of women and girls experience debilitating periods, yet nearly one-third never seek medical help, and more than half say their symptoms are not taken seriously, according to research. A survey of 3,000 women and girls for the Wellbeing of Women charity found that they are often dismissed as “just having a period”, despite experiencing severe pain, heavy bleeding and irregular cycles that can lead to mental health problems. Almost all of those surveyed, who were between 16 and 40 years old and based in the UK, had experienced period pain (96%), with 59% saying their pain was severe. 91% had experienced heavy periods, with 49% saying their bleeding was severe. Prof Dame Lesley Regan, the chair of Wellbeing of Women, said: “It’s simply unacceptable that anyone is expected to suffer with period symptoms that disrupt their lives, including taking time off school, work, or their caring responsibilities, all of which may result in avoidable mental health problems. “Periods should not affect women’s lives in this way. If they do, it can be a sign of a gynaecological condition that requires attention and ongoing support – not dismissal.” Wellbeing of Women has launched its “Just a Period” campaign, which Regan said aims to address “the many years of medical bias, neglect and stigma in women’s health”. This includes tips on how to get the most out of seeing your GP and what women should do if they feel they have been dismissed. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 14 September 2023
  4. Content Article
    This study, published by BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, explored minority ethnic women's experiences of access to and engagement with perinatal mental health care.
  5. Content Article
    “Almost every Gynecologic surgeon I know has a story about being told that they were wasting their talent". It was this tweet from US-based gynaecology surgeon Jocelyn Fitzgerald that caught my eye a few months ago. I’m passionate about women’s health and immediately wanted to find out more about how this translated in terms of patient safety. So, in August we met, and Dr. Fitzgerald explained some of the barriers and challenges she faces in delivering safe and equitable care. 
  6. Content Article
    I am passionate about women's health and have worked with campaigners, clinicians and patients for a number of years to look at the barriers that women face in receiving safe care and the challenges clinicians face in delivering it.   We know the medical system has historically been based on the white, male patient which has led to huge gaps in knowledge and understanding around women's health. But we are not just playing catch up to address past racism and patriarchy that is embedded in the system, we are continuing to highlight and fight it where it still exists.   On Saturday I attended the Women's Health Summit, organised by Five X More. It was a powerful event, designed to look at aspects of women's health throughout their life journey. Attended by mums, charity representatives, media, clinicians, patients, leaders and more, united by a desire to change things.   I laughed, I talked and I cried.   One of the final calls to action of the day was to find your skill, find your voice and do more.   So, I start where I am most at home - in writing. 
  7. News Article
    "It's isolating, debilitating and you feel dirty." Too many women have to cope with bowel incontinence from injuries during childbirth, according to one charity. Anna Clements, from Masic, said stigma and a lack of information meant women were unaware of the medical support available. The Welsh government said a plan would be published in the summer on how health boards should provide "high-quality women's health services". A coalition of charities said this was one of a number of ways women experience poor health outcomes. Women need to be listened to and not just dismissed and told 'this happens with birth - just get on with it'," added Ms Clements. Masic supports women who have experienced anal sphincter injuries - an issue which carries so much stigma that few will speak to anyone about their symptoms. Julie Cornish, a colorectal surgeon, was instrumental in setting up a hub which helps patients with pelvic organ prolapse, incontinence and bowel dysfunction. "These are really common conditions - they mainly affect women, but can affect men as well," she said. Clinics for things such as bowel, bladder or gynaecological issues are held simultaneously in the hub, based at Barry Hospital, Vale of Glamorgan. This means patients can get immediate advice from different specialists without joining separate waiting lists which cuts waiting times significantly. Ms Cornish acknowledged the numbers currently seeking help were "the tip of the iceberg" because of the stigma. Read full story Source: BBC News, 28 May 2022
  8. News Article
    A woman who has been waiting three years for a hysterectomy says she feels she and other women have been pushed to the bottom of the list. Jessica Ricketts, from Barry, is one of 164,000 patients who have been on various NHS waiting lists for more than a year, compared to less than 7,000 two-years-ago. But it will take another three years to tackle the backlog. Welsh government's plan to tackle long waits is due to be published later. But for Jessica, she remains in pain with endometriosis despite six gynaecological surgeries over the past 10 years and is now waiting for the hysterectomy. "Every day there's some sort of pain and I'm in pain right now," she told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast. "My fear is that the endometriosis - because obviously I'm just waiting - is now in my diaphragm, and so I get pain on my left side. "With every day almost, which used to just be cyclical and now it's gone a lot worse." Jessica is keen to see what the Welsh government's plan to cut waiting times is, but she believes women's health "seems to be at the very bottom of the pile". She added: "I think it's even more important now than ever, to really push the women's health side of things. We have it takes on average 10 years for a diagnosis of endometriosis. "As women we have to fight to even get past the GP who is severely under-trained in this department. "And it's just seems to be that because we're women. We're told that you know, just suck it up really and carry on and it needs to be a fairer system, particularly for the women of Wales and we need to stop pushing it to the bottom of the pile." Read full story Source: BBC News, 26 April 2022
  9. News Article
    In an ongoing effort to improve care and support for elderly women and women’s health satisfaction and outcomes in general, the government have published their report summarising written responses from 436 organisations and experts from the Women’s Health Strategy call for evidence. The organisations that contributed to the report included participants from the charity sector, academia, professional bodies, clinicians, royal colleges and other general experts in women’s health. The topics highlighted in the report include: Menstrual health and gynaecological conditions, including the impact of premenstrual syndrome on someone’s quality of life. Fertility, pregnancy, pregnancy loss and maternal health, including women not feeling listened to during and after pregnancy and the provision of bereavement support services. Menopause, including suggestions for improvements in training and guidelines for healthcare professionals. Gynaecological and other cancers, including barriers to accessing high-quality, up to date information on risk factors for female cancers. Mental health, including its interaction with other health conditions across women’s life course. Healthy ageing, including the need to increase focus on the health needs of older women and emphasise women may experience the same conditions as men in different ways. Violence against women and girls, including the complications associated with hymenoplasty and barriers to accessing healthcare support for those who’ve been subject to years of violence and abuse. Minister for Women’s Health Maria Caulfield said: “For generations, women have lived in a healthcare system primarily designed by men, for men. We are committed to tackling the gender health gap, and the publication of our strategy later this year will mark a significant step forward.” She added: “I want to thank the expert individuals and organisations who took the time to respond to our call for evidence. The insights you have provided have been stark and sobering but will be pivotal to ensuring our strategy represents the first-hand experiences of the health care system.” Read full story Source: NHE, 13 April 2022
  10. News Article
    Gynaecology waiting lists in England have risen by 60% during the pandemic - more sharply than any other specialty. Across the UK, more than 570,000 women are waiting for help. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) said patients were "consistently deprioritised and overlooked". NHS England says hospitals are making progress on dealing with the Covid backlog and average waiting times for elective treatment are coming down. The RCOG is calling for much greater attention to women's views, and for care to be designed around their needs. Chetna Mistry says she is a "prisoner" to endometriosis, a painful condition in which tissue similar to the lining of the womb grows in other places, like the ovaries. She described it as "a whole-body disease which affects you physically and mentally". It has left her infertile, and, at 42, she needs a hysterectomy. Chetna said she was referred to a specialist in June 2020, but 21 months later still does not have a date for surgery. RCOG president Dr Edward Morris said he felt helpless not being able to speed up access to care for women and people on his waiting lists. "There is an element of gender bias in the system. I don't think believe that we are listening to voices of women as well as we should be. The priority they urgently need is not being given to them." The Royal College asked 830 women on waiting lists about the other impacts on their lives. Read full story Source: BBC News, 4 April 2022
  11. News Article
    Doctors too often "ignore" women's pain, Sajid Javid said as he called for change in the wake of the Shrewsbury maternity scandal. Writing for The Telegraph, the Health Secretary said the wider NHS needed to do much more to listen to women, adding that too many are left in pain and ignored by clinicians. On Wednesday, the Ockenden report revealed that the deaths of 201 babies and nine mothers at Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust could have been avoided, citing a failure to listen to women. Mr Javid wrote: "This week we have seen the tragic reality of what can happen when women's voices are not listened to when it comes to their care. "Donna Ockenden's report into maternity failings at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals raises specific concerns for maternity services, but more widely we must address issues across the whole of the health and care system when it comes to listening to women's concerns and recognising their pain." In the joint piece with Maria Caulfield, the minister for women’s health, Mr Javid welcomed a "shift in the way we talk about women's health", with more open discussions about areas once seen as taboo. But the pair said more needed to be done – specifically to improve the treatment of endometriosis, an extremely painful gynaecological condition. "We must ensure all women feel confident in going to their GP when they experience symptoms of endometriosis and, when they do, that they are listened to," they said. Too many were "spending too long in pain waiting for a diagnosis, often feeling ignored by clinicians", they warned. Later this year the Government will publish a women's health strategy, which will examine issues including fertility, menopause, and prevention and treatment of diseases. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Telegraph, 31 March 2022
  12. News Article
    Delays in being able to get contraception and abortions can wreck women’s lives. It’s time women ignored the stigma and started complaining more loudly, writes Nell Frizzell in the Guardian. "When a friend recently told me that there was a 10-week waiting list to have a copper coil fitted, my shock turned quickly into anger. Ten weeks is a hell of a long time to wait for adequate, hormone-free, affordable contraception. We are experiencing a quiet crisis in contraceptive care in this country. According to a report by the Advisory Group on Contraception: “Going into lockdown, services had faced years of budget cuts by the government, leading to an 18% decrease in real-terms contraception spend since 2015.” The same report points out that there has also been a huge reduction in sites commissioned to deliver contraception (26% of local authorities cut sites in 2018-2019), meaning people are having to travel further to get the medical help they need, simply not to have an unplanned, unwanted, unaffordable or unsafe pregnancy. Unfortunately, the stigma still attached to contraception and reproductive health means people are less willing to complain publicly about the huge waiting times, the travel costs and the difficulty they face in accessing contraception and abortion. Subtly and overtly, we are told that this is our lot and we must bear it. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 9 March 2022 "
  13. News Article
    Women who have the HPV vaccine may need only one smear test to prevent cervical cancer in their lifetime, according to a leading scientist. Women are currently invited for screening every three to five years in the UK. But Prof Peter Sasieni said the vaccine was leading to such dramatic reductions in cancer that the screening programme would need to change soon. The NHS invites women, and people with a cervix, for regular screening. Swabs of the cervix are used to check for signs of abnormalities using a microscope (the traditional smear test) or more recently to test for the virus itself. However, a seismic shift in preventing cervical cancer started in the UK in 2008 with the introduction of the HPV vaccine. It is offered to girls (and boys since 2019) aged between 11 and 13. Research published in December shows the vaccine is cutting cervical cancer by nearly 90% in those who choose to have the jab. "This is really exciting," Prof Sasieni, the director of the clinical trials unit at King's College London, told Inside Health on BBC Radio 4. His modelling suggests between one and three checks a lifetime would be appropriate for people who have been immunised. "There's a new vaccine which will be used in the UK from the next school year, which protects against even more types of the virus, and I think with that probably one screen would be enough, maybe two, over a lifetime." However, the Department of Health and Social Care said one in three people do not come for screening when invited, and a spokesperson added: "The NHS Cervical Screening programme remains an important way of protecting the population - including those who have not been vaccinated - from developing cervical cancer." Read full story Source: BBC News, 2 March 2022
  14. News Article
    The symptoms of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) became so difficult for one woman, she did not want to live. Angharad Medi Lewis from Carmarthenshire said "embarrassing" heavy periods and excess facial hair made her not want to leave home. "I was having very heavy periods, I was in serious pain for a whole week every month, growing hair on my face, I was anxious, so worried about going out because of the heavy periods that it was actually embarrassing," she said. According to Neuroendocrinology expert Prof Aled Rees, the condition and its link with mental health side effects "isn't appreciated enough". "Patients often come to us at the clinic, and it's obvious from the symptoms they describe, that it's going to have an impact on their mental health." He said there was a "gap" in the general conversation with PCOS patients. "There needs to be greater emphasis for patients and doctors that any consultation they have includes a discussion about mental health because there is an effective treatment available". The charity Fair Treatment for Women in Wales has called on the Welsh government to put women's physical and mental health at the top of the agenda. Julie Richards, a consultant with the charity, said the mental health impacts of conditions like PCOS and endometriosis, are often forgotten. "We need specialist clinics in Wales, and when it comes to women's health generally, we're lagging behind in all areas," she said. The Welsh government said women's wellbeing was a priority and it would publish plans on how to support women. Read full story Source: BBC News, 25 February 2022
  15. News Article
    Two hundred women in the UK who claim they were left in pain after having a permanent contraception device fitted, can now take group legal action through the courts, against its manufacturer. The Essure coil "has caused irreparable damage physically and mentally", the women's lawyers say. German maker Bayer says it will defend itself vigorously against the claims. When Essure was withdrawn from sale, in 2017, the UK medicines regulator said there was no risk to safety. Lawyers in England began legal action in 2020 and now have permission to bring a group claim on behalf of 200 women. Other women wishing to join the group action have until 2024 to do so. The Essure device is a small metal coil inserted into a woman's fallopian tubes. Scar tissue forms around the coil, creating a barrier that keeps sperm from reaching the eggs. Launched in 2002, the device was marketed as a simpler alternative to sterilisation by surgery. But some women say they suffered constant pain and complications, including heavy bleeding, with some ending up having hysterectomies or the device removed altogether. Read full story Source: BBC News, 5 September 2023
  16. News Article
    A woman who suffered chronic abdominal pain for 18 months after undergoing a caesarean section was found to have a surgical instrument the size of a dinner plate inside her abdomen. The Alexis retractor, or AWR, was left inside the New Zealand mother after her baby was delivered at Auckland City Hospital in 2020. Following initial investigations into the case, Te Whatu Ora Auckland, formerly Auckland District Health Board, claimed it had not failed to exercise reasonable skill and care towards the patient, who was in her 20s. But on Monday, New Zealand’s Health and Disability Commissioner, Morag McDowell, found Te Whatu Ora Auckland in breach of the code of patient rights. Read full story Source: Guardian, 4 September 2023
  17. News Article
    After generations of inaction and very few novel ideas, researchers and activists are hopeful a new path is being charted in understanding and treating the crippling chronic condition “There’s an excitement at the moment,” says Andrew Horne. After decades of inaction, something is happening in endometriosis. Now, says the professor of gynaecology and reproductive sciences at the University of Edinburgh, “I do think things are changing. There are more people working on it, so it’s bringing in people from different disciplines with new ideas.” In the space of a few months, from gatherings in Edinburgh and Washington DC, labs in Sydney and Japan, there is a sense that new ideas are bubbling to the surface, including a fundamental rethinking of endometriosis not as a disease of the pelvis, but rather, says Horne, “a whole-body disease”. It’s hard to pinpoint the exact moment when despair turned to hope in the research and patient community. There was no single breakthrough. No one person responsible. In March, the largest ever study on the genetics of endometriosis was published in Nature Genetics, which found genetic links to 11 other pain conditions as well as other inflammatory conditions. The study, involving DNA from more than 760,000 women, found ovarian endometriosis is genetically distinct from other types and indicated there may be a genetic predisposition to excessive inflammation in people with the condition. One of the researchers, Dr Nilufer Rahmioglu from the University of Oxford, described the data as a “treasure trove of new information”. Weeks later on the other side of the world, researchers from Sydney’s Royal Hospital for Women attracted international attention after they grew tissue from different types of endometriosis and compared how each responded differently to treatments. Jason Abbott, professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at the hospital, likened the development to those made in the treatment of breast cancer three decades ago. Two weeks on from the Australian discovery, Japanese researchers found a common form of bacteria may be contributing to the growth of endometriosis via inflammation. The frisson was, by then, hard to miss. Read the full article here: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/aug/10/its-really-only-the-beginning-are-we-on-the-cusp-of-a-breakthrough-in-endometriosis
  18. News Article
    The trust at the centre of a maternity scandal insists it has been providing immediate anaesthetic cover for obstetric emergencies, contrary to an NHS England report suggesting it had not and had been potentially breaching safety standards. Health Education England – now part of NHSE – visited William Harvey Hospital in March and was told senior doctors in training who were covering obstetrics could also be covering the cath lab – which deals with patients who have had a heart attack, and could receive trauma, paediatric emergency and cardiac arrest calls. This suggested the trust was in conflict with Royal College guidelines which state an anaesthetist should always be “immediately available” for obstetrics. East Kent Hospitals University Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital, originally told HSJ its rota had very recently been changed and that an anaesthetist with primary responsibility for maternity could leave any other work to attend to a maternity emergency immediately. However, it has since said it has been the case for a long time that an anaesthetist is available to return to maternity in case of an emergency. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 17 June 2023
  19. News Article
    New study results in more precise language in the federally mandated warning about this possibility. (Article from the USA) Women who choose to use an intrauterine device, or IUD, for birth control should be aware of the very small possibility that the device could puncture their uterus. They should know how to recognize that circumstance if it occurs, according to a new study published in The Lancet. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration mandated the study to evaluate women's risks when an IUD is placed in the year after giving birth and when an IUD is placed during the period that a woman is breastfeeding a baby. These results were compared, respectively, with non-postpartum insertions and insertions in non-breastfeeding individuals, explained UW Medicine’s Dr. Susan Reed, the study’s lead author. Across the study cohort of 327,000 women, the percentage of perforation cases diagnosed within five years of IUD insertion was 0.6 %, the study concluded. The risk of perforation increased by nearly seven times if it was inserted between four days and six weeks postpartum, and increased by about one-third if inserted during the span of breastfeeding. The risk of an IUD-related perforation was relatively lower when inserted in women who were more than a year beyond delivery, in women who had never had a baby, and when the insertion occurred at delivery. Read full article here
  20. News Article
    A sexual assault survivor chooses sterilization so that if she is ever attacked again, she won’t be forced to give birth to a rapist’s baby. An obstetrician delays inducing a miscarriage until a woman with severe pregnancy complications seems “sick enough.” A lupus patient must stop taking medication that controls her illness because it can also cause miscarriages. Abortion restrictions in a number of states and the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade are having profound repercussions in reproductive medicine as well as in other areas of medical care. “For physicians and patients alike, this is a frightening and fraught time, with new, unprecedented concerns about data privacy, access to contraception, and even when to begin lifesaving care,” said Dr. Jack Resneck, president of the American Medical Association. Even in medical emergencies, doctors are sometimes declining immediate treatment. In the past week, an Ohio abortion clinic received calls from two women with ectopic pregnancies — when an embryo grows outside the uterus and can’t be saved — who said their doctors wouldn’t treat them. Ectopic pregnancies often become life-threatening emergencies and abortion clinics aren’t set up to treat them. It’s just one example of “the horrible downstream effects of criminalizing abortion care,″ said Dr. Catherine Romanos, who works at the Dayton clinic. Read full story Source: AP News, 16 July 2022
  21. News Article
    Emma Hardy MP has secured a Westminster debate on gynaecological wait times. Gynaecology waiting lists across the UK have now reached a combined figure of more than 610,000 – a 69% increase on pre-pandemic levels. New analysis by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) shows that in England, gynaecology waiting lists have grown the most by percentage increase of all elective specialties. Emma is co-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) for Surgical Mesh and Endometriosis - both come under the heading of ‘gynaecological conditions’ and both are being impacted by increased waiting times. Through her involvement with these APPGs, Emma has heard the testimony of so many women whose lives have been impacted by conditions that can be so painful and debilitating that they impact on every aspect of family, social and work life. Emma will ask the minister to launch an investigation into possible gender bias in the prioritisation of gynaecology services and ensure that elective recovery will address the unequal growth of gynaecology waiting lists compared to other specialties. Emma said: "It is completely unacceptable that 610,000 women are waiting for gynaecological care across the UK. The reality is that many of these women will be in excruciating pain awaiting treatment, unable to go about their day-to-day lives." Read full story Source: Hull Daily Mail, 5 July 2022
  22. News Article
    England's first women's health ambassador is calling for "one-stop shops" where women can sort out their health needs. Dame Lesley Regan, also a practising doctor, wants to make it easier for women and girls to access care such as contraception and smear tests in the community. Her new role aims to close the "gender health gap". She will also support the upcoming government-led women's-health strategy. "At the moment, we waste a lot of resource in telling girls and women that they cannot have things," she told BBC News. "So you might go off to your doctor or gynaecologist or heart specialist and get told, well, you cannot have a smear here, even if it is due, or you need to go somewhere else for this, that and the other. "We should make it very, very easy for people to access this out in the community - why do you need to go to a secondary or tertiary facility for things that are very easy to provide?" Instead, she wants health hubs where women could "go for half a day and get all these things sorted out" and then get on with their lives. "A one-stop shop is what I want for myself and what I want for my daughters and I'm sure it is what every other girl and woman wants and what every man and boy wants for the women in their lives, to be looked after that way," Dame Lesley said. Read full story Source: BBC News, 17 June 2022
  23. News Article
    Regulators have raised serious concerns over trainee doctors within the maternity department at one of the largest trusts in the country. The NHS’ training regulator said it had concerns over the treatment of trainee doctors within the obstetric and gynaecology department at University Hospitals Birmingham Foundation Trust, while some medics report being in ‘meltdown’. Reviewers raised an incident where a consultant had refused to respond to an obstetric emergency in A&E which had been requested by a junior doctor. “The panel unanimously agreed that Consultant presence was required without delay,” the report added. The latest review follows concerns in November 2020 and June 2021 when patient safety issues were also identified. It warned there was a “real risk” trainees would soon become “hesitant and reluctant” to call for consultant support when need. Read full story Source: The Independent, 5 June 2022
  24. News Article
    When a couple decides to try to have a child by in vitro fertilisation, it’s often accompanied by anticipation, anxiety and worry about whether the egg and sperm will unite and produce a healthy baby. So when the procedure to retrieve eggs from a woman’s ovary turns out to be physically painful, it can create long-term emotional pain as well, according to a lawsuit and two women who underwent the procedure at the Yale University Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility Clinic. They are among dozens of women and spouses who are suing Yale University, claiming the staff at the clinic should have known that, instead of receiving fentanyl to relieve pain during the procedure, they instead were being injected with saline — salt water. “The result was that dozens, perhaps hundreds, of women underwent the most painful fertility surgeries and procedures offered at the REI Clinic with little or no analgesia,” the lawsuit states. Angela Cortese, 33, of Vernon, who first had her eggs retrieved on Dec. 3, 2019, said the pain was “excruciating” as a nurse wiped tears from her eyes and Cortese tried “not to flinch every time they’re using this giant needle to retrieve the follicles.” “I want to say it was probably around 45 minutes that I was very much aware of what exactly was happening and feeling every pinch and prod,” she said. “And it doesn’t feel like somebody’s just pinching you. It feels like somebody’s stabbing you through your vagina. It was horrific.” Read full story Source: ctpost, 31 May 2022
  25. News Article
    Women undergoing NHS operations are not being routinely informed that a drug commonly used in anaesthesia may make their contraception less effective, putting them at risk of an unplanned pregnancy, doctors have warned. Administered at the end of surgery before patients wake up, sugammadex reverses the action of drugs that are given earlier in the procedure to relax the patient’s muscles. The drug is known to interact with the hormone progesterone and may reduce the effectiveness of hormonal contraceptives, including the progesterone-only pill, combined pill, vaginal rings, implants and intra-uterine devices. However, new research suggests that robust methods for identifying at-risk patients and informing them of the associated risk of contraceptive failures is not common practice across anaesthetic departments in the UK. Current guidance says doctors must inform women of child-bearing age about the drug. Women taking oral hormonal contraceptives should be advised to follow the missed pill advice in the leaflet that comes with their contraceptives, and those using other types of hormonal contraceptive should be advised to use an additional non-hormonal means of contraception for seven days. But doctors at a major London hospital trust found no record within the medical notes of relevant patients that they had been given advice on the risks of contraceptive failure due to sugammadex. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 2 June 2022
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