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Found 82 results
  1. Community Post
    The comments below were all shared by members of Sling the Mesh in response to a call for the worst things that have been said to patients on their mesh journey. If you have had mesh surgery, please add your accounts of interactions with doctors and other healthcare professionals in this thread. Transvaginal mesh Hubby said "It’s really painful for her when we have sex." Dr replied, "Have you tried anal?" and then winked at my hubby. I thought my husband was going to punch the surgeon. My surgeon emailed me to attend mental well being therapy classes, as in ‘it was mind over matter’, for my pain and agony that I was suffering 12 weeks after insertion! You can only imagine my reply to her 😡 …10 weeks later she discovered under another general anaesthetic that the Mesh had cut right through my bladder! "You will have to learn to live with the pain… Drs are not miracle workers." Mine said, "l don't know why women over 50 want to have sex anyway!" Top urogynaecologist: "don’t worry you don’t have cancer" patting my knee. Surgeon said no way is it the mesh you are reading to much crap on the internet, it’s working that’s all you need to know. For a whole year, I was told by my implanting surgeon that the razor blade/ hot knife feeling cutting into me was all in my head… his registrar discovered that the mesh was cutting into my vaginal wall. When I questioned about the "tape " I was told it was not mesh & don't believe everything you read in Newspapers . Also my pain was in my head! It’s your menopause not the mesh 😡 “I just don’t understand why you have all this pain, Anatomically you look beautiful” followed by a laugh!! Mine told me I probably need hip replacements. Surgeon punctured my intestine during mesh surgery and said “well it’s probably good that happened because it caused you to rest in a bed for a month.” Uh… a hospital bed in which I almost died because he refused to admit he did anything wrong. My family had to demand an independent team come in and evaluate me… I would have been dead within hours if they hadn’t. I was SO relieved to find Sling The Mesh support group after hearing about it on the news (after the Cumberlege review) I wouldn't wish this sh*t on my worst enemy but I was SO glad to discover I wasn't going mad, its not all in my head, I wasn't the only person with complications. That evening I cried hard! Such a relief and source of support 🥰 What am I moaning about, your husband should be very pleased! I’m the only one to ever have anything wrong, it must be my body not the mesh! Your like a 21 year old down there now! Where would I start 🤔so many gems to choose from! .. one of my faves is.. "DO YOU HAVE ANY OTHER MENTAL ILLNESSES??" My surgeon told me that it definitely won't be the mesh that's causing my problems. I have learned since that he has received 6 figure sums from the mesh manufacturers for promoting it! I had a “specialist” that actually said to me “ look shit happens ..and it happened to you.” Don't be silly mesh doesn't cause leg pain. I have had 2 partial removals, drag my leg around daily, hip wear and tear, urine infections, have had E/coli infections in mesh with 7 times daily antibiotics. "It's all in your mind, maybe you need to speak to someone. " Yes a lawyer you fool. My surgeon said my mesh would last about ten years I asked what do we do then , he said we will worry about that when the time comes ! My urologist told me to stop looking at Sling the Mesh on Facebook 😂😂😂😂 and to believe the professionals!!! I stood up and walked out before I did him damage!!!😂 My surgeon said Chin up and have a glass of Prosecco. I was told "Surely it's a good thing when sex hurts a bit" After telling him for five years my new urinary issues were due to the mesh, I eventually got it removed due to erosion, but at my follow up being angry at not being listened to, he suggested I had PTSD and got referred to the psychiatric team! That is an insult to the poor people who do have it , I don’t I just had anger and vented it! One of the doctors at my surgery said “your to complicated, I cannot help you. Book another appointment to see somebody else” I was told that my GP practice could not help me as my problems are too complex. Looking at me, he said "I just don't understand how you could be in pain, I will refer you to a Psychiatrist". To my partner, he said "I've made her nice and tight for you". It’s your weight try exercise, when u can’t even walk. I asked my surgeon, is there a good mesh and bad mesh! He said there is NO bad mesh! Mine told me it was all in my head! That maybe I had a low pain threshold. My gynaecologist said stop 🛑 listening to the hype !!!!! 😡 Mine said, "You’re too fat for your hips." Has this all been brought on by the Mesh nonsense in the media!!! The first doctor suggested my problems were I needed more foreplay or a lubricant during sex after I said my husband feels something sharp when inside me!!! My original TVT had 'slipped'. My gynae surgeon said he would do a TVTO, a pelvic floor repair and a posterior pro-lift. At no point was the word mesh used and in my ignorance I thought he knew best, how gullible was I? It is in your head by so many over the years that you feel you are going mad 😡 as you know the pain your in. All in my head and then your too complex you must be imagining things you can’t be in that much pain. Your back has nothing to do with your vagina so how can your back pain be linked (female consultant). I have TOT mesh implant. Suffer with groin infection and fistula. After I had infection drained (unsuccessfully) I was seen by the gynaecologist, I mentioned that the infections were the mesh incisions in my groin ... he told me not to be silly .. that mesh is in the vagina not in the groin area .. he obviously only knew about tvt mesh not TOT.. I told him to go away and do some research... I didn't see him again!!!! I got told it’s not the mesh it’s were it should be and doing it’s job 😡. Also got told to stop looking and reading stuff in mesh groups as everything isn’t true 🤬 My surgeon said "Oh, so you are jumping on the Mesh bandwagon?" When I mentioned mesh because of my endless infections to yet another doctor at my previous surgery he said ‘as long as you’re nice, we look after people who are nice’. I was so taken aback I just couldn’t even answer- I’ve never been anything but nice through many surgeries and issues. I was told -“Nothing more we can do for you so will discharge you” Worst one was sent for testing STDs When we told my surgeon I could no longer have sex because it was too painful he said I had a duty to my husband so I should just put up with it. My husband was furious he said do you really think I could enjoy sex knowing my wife is in pain. My surgeon told me he had only one women with mesh had problems and she was "neurotic"... Surgeon Quote “you can’t be in that much pain its a standard operation ?” Surgeon Quote “ It must be sciatic pain, I’ll get an orthopaedic doctor to look at you and send you home!” Another mesh specialist “it’s blue and it’s eroded but majority of women are fine I don’t understand why you can’t walk anymore your infections and blood in urine must be due to a bladder infection!” Diagnosis in 2018 Mesh cut through obturator nerve, put in to lateral too tight, too much pressure on urethra and permanent pain and damage. I was treated in a very misogynistic way even though I have my husband present. Just ignored every time I mention it, no matter who it is. “You are an awkward patient…” "‘You're to old to have pain there." "It can't be the mesh causing you pain, I've inserted lots of these and your the only one who has complained!!" (2017) mesh inserted 2014. “You can’t believe what you hear in the news about other people having mesh problems, after all, I am the trained consultant…” 😥🤦‍♀️ It’s just the menopause, you will get used to it. “Your mesh is the gold standard, it is the old mesh that causes problems.“ “Your mesh just needs time to seed itself in.” “ I don’t know why you can’t have a sex life, there is enough room for a penis.” My implanting surgeon's response to my second visit following tvt implant was to take a cursory look in my vagina and pronounce all was fine. I have learned this response is common amongst patients who've had mesh complications. By this time I was peeing to the left and pooing to the right like some sort of sick trick. I likened it to turning up at A and E with a broken arm and the doctor not ordering an X ray. I later learned the mesh and resultant scar tissue had pulled my organs this way and that. I've just undergone my fifth and hopefully final operation to remove excessive scar tissue, small fragments of mesh after two full removals and perineum reconstruction. Surgeon suggested I see a shrink because he thought it was all in my head. “Go home and try to relax more” 😲 Neurologist -if you go see enough doctors you will eventually hear what you want to hear. There are so many shockers, but the worst has to be, "Prescription pads are expensive and patients like you are not worth the cost of a prescription" "It's all in your head nothing has snapped or eroded, you have to be patient with the incontinence settling down." GP listened to me telling her the unbearable vaginal pain I was going through feeling like glass cutting into me. She looked at me and said, "But why are you here today?" The cost of your catheters is too expensive for the NHS, we would like you to change to washable catheters 😲 It's all in your mind, you need anti depressants, and motivate yourself. A urologist that I had sought help from privately having walked out/discharged myself from care of implanting surgeon, "I sit on a board looking at mesh but I personally don’t believe any of this stuff you read on the internet . Mesh cannot cause such problems.“ “You must just have been coincidentally prone to interstitial cystitis and retention” Eye rolled as she said, “You shouldnt believe everything you read on the internet. Mesh is perfectly safe…” "This is a gold standard operation, it will be life changing." Well yeah, it was life changing but not in a good way. When I told the specialist how painful it was when my husband tried to put his penis in to have sex, he said , "Is he putting it in right?" We'd been married 36 years. I was told to massage it better My implanting surgeon said she "fixes up other surgeons mistakes" after putting mine in too tight and having to loosen it a year later. Mine told me I had a "good quality of life. Just to go home and get on with it." Surgeon said my operation was Tape is like a FREE TUMMY TUCK…” My favourite, "it’s your body that’s at fault!!!" “It can’t possibly hurt every time you urinate, that's an exaggeration surely.” Mine said, “Off the record, if you complain about this no-one will want to work on you in the future” Surgeon said, "If the mesh is still in place its doing its job" 🤬 I only brought it up to my surgeon once. He told me “not to believe I’m everything in the papers. Some women are just after a payout.” Surgeon said, “In 12 years I have never had anyone else complain so it cant be the mesh.” Blatant lie in 2016 as another patient at end of communication tether was busy putting warning flyers in his waiting room. Said in an abrupt tone, ”I doubt the pain is from the mesh it all stories from media and internet.” “You have been reading too much on the internet.” Well yes I have because from 3 days after the operation when I said something was horribly wrong you were telling me to go away and heal or that it could not possibly be the tape… thank goodness I googled TVT pain or I would never have found this group and thousands experiencing similar pain and disgusting treatment like me. Implanting surgeon “you’ll learn to live with it!” Consultant: "I've been to a conference and told some of colleagues about some of your problems and they said poor you, we're glad she's not our patient." "There's nothing there, it's not mesh!" Saw somebody else who could feel the mesh hanging out straight away. 😥 "It’s not mesh it can’t do this you’re wrong it’s your hip, go away and lose weight and exercise." Female GP after I’d read medical documents saying it can 😡 I was told I was having surgery with a dissolving hammock and medical records show no mention of MESH. "Oh it's you again!! I told you before it's not the TVT. You must be lonely or looking for attention." 😡 Surgeon said to stop listening to group (Scottish Mesh Survivors) as he was the expert with experience not a group of people who knew nothing!!! I asked why I was in so much pain and was told it was because I wasn't in a sexual relationship! "This has only ever happened to you. .... your body is to blame." Before I had my surgery (vaginal hysterectomy with anterior & posterior repair), the surgeon said he would sew me up "nice & tight" and actually winked at my husband!! Well, we haven't been able to have intercourse for 10 years since my op, despite physio, hormonal lubrication etc and I'm now on a waiting list (5 yrs so far) to see a sexual psychologist, cos it's all in my head of course. I ask him if the mesh he used was the same one they talked about on the tv program. He said no so I got him to write it down. When I got home I checked and it was the same polypropylene.. It’s got nothing to do with the mesh the pain is in your head 😡 My surgeons exact words to me, thankfully my husband was present... "I’m sick of all these women jumping on the mesh bandwagon. My surgery was a success. Your bowel is perfect. But if you think the mesh is to tight, I’ll open you up, detach the mesh from your spine, let it drop & put another piece of mesh over the top & reattach to your spine. You’ll be my first but I’ll give it a go!" Just to add, since removal of mesh I’m 80+% improved & my quality of life is really good. I was told I was one of the unlucky ones. He told me I needed to stop running all over the country trying to find a Dr who could help me even though He had not help me in five years. There is no cause for your pelvic pain! A pessary will fix you! Maybe stop going on social media! I’ve had a lot of problems since my removal of a TVT last August with extremely limited after care and no follow up appointments what so ever. When I did eventually get a telephone appointment I got upset because of the amount of issues I’ve had with no one to turn to for any help. Her reply was, "well you were warned that you could end up worse than before if YOU chose to go ahead with having it removed." My reply, "Yes I knew there was a risk of even more issues, as if I wasn’t having enough already… but what however was not explained was that there would be absolutely zero help with those issues if they did occur, no one to contact or answers to emails and voice mail messages…" She went very quiet after that. I was trying to find out if mesh had been used in my op & the surgeon said, "People see one Victoria Derbyshire program and panic." My female implanting surgeon told me she’d never had any problems with any other patients. She then told me it was a skin problem and gave me some cream then discharged me. She’d already discharged me and I asked my GP to go back and see her. My female GP kept telling me it was the healing process and to give it time. After months and months of me going back with pain and UTIs she started to get really sharp with me so I stopped going. Rectopexy mesh My surgeon said when I said my vagina was very tight and painful for intercourse that his wife would love an excuse like that not to bother. I got no referral elsewhere to investigate. Had no physical relationship for 11 years. Mine laughed in my face saying, "Don't be stupid I've done over 280 rectopexy surgeries and never once had a problem. This isn't mesh related." "If I take some of this out, you will HAVE to have a colostomy bag for life." No choice given. My implanting surgeon referred me to his colleague who was a pain specialist... the pain specialist said, "Its your periods you need to go into medical menopause." I was around 36 at the time. I was told it wasn't the mesh that was causing problems and to take ownership of situation. Mesh all removed now left with permanent stoma 😫😡 When I called my bowel specialist in agony and in desperate need of help. "Aww hun I wish i could just give you a hug." My GP said, "Some pain is unexplainable, you just have to live with it." 😡 Bowel specialist said you need rectopexy repair and don’t believe the hype about mesh. They said smoking was good for you in WW2... WHEN I QUESTIONED THE CHOICE OF MESH Hernia mesh On the day of my operation, the general surgeon didn’t want to do the removal, he denied my Physiomesh had been recalled in May 2016. I had to show the link on the government site, so my plastic surgeon believed my symptoms could be related to the mesh and agreed the operation was necessary. Mine told me these groups were filling our heads with rubbish. They are full of hysterical men and women. Was told I was the only one with these issues, never had issues like this before. Told me it was all in my head. Told mesh can't cause all of these symptoms. The groups have been the biggest support to me. I finally felt normal as in I wasn't alone. This wasn't in my head. It was a sigh of relief to find the groups. A hospital consultant said, "Hernia mesh can't cause these problems." (inflammation, autoimmune, joint pain, muscle pain, allergies, Lichen Sclerosis, etc.) "You're getting confused with vaginal mesh". "If hernia mesh were a problem, I would've heard about it and I've not seen one single case in my entire career... don't you think I would've heard if there were problems?" After I persisted in telling him the scale of the problem he then raised his voice and said, "You'll never prove it." And that spoke volumes! I guess he is still staying he has never heard of a single case. He also told me to stop believing what I read on the internet. “It’s not THIS mesh that’s on the news. THIS is a great product.” (The very next year THIS mesh was recalled).
  2. Content Article
    In this blog, Sling the Mesh founder Kath Sansom highlights the variation in medical treatment depending on where you live in the world. Describing patient safety advocacy as "like a giant game of chess—but a hideous version where innocent people get hurt," she describes recent developments in the use of pelvic mesh globally. New Zealand recently suspended the use of a particular type of pelvic mesh at the same time as a Canadian study recommended its use for stress urinary incontinence (SUI). Kath gives a brief history of mesh sling suspension and argues that patient safety needs joined up thinking to protect women around the world.
  3. Content Article
    This is part of our series of Patient Safety Spotlight interviews, where we talk to people working for patient safety about their role and what motivates them.  Kath talks to us about why she set up Sling the Mesh and the significant impact that campaigning has on her life. She also highlights the need to establish systems that will identify and prevent avoidable harm, including long term tracking to investigate trends of harm, reporting of industry payments to clinicians and making logging side effects mandatory for healthcare professionals. Read other posts by Kath on the hub: A mesh ‘audit’ is meaningless unless we have reliable data and hear from those who have been harmed - a blog by Kath Sansom Tokenism in patient engagement is unethical—but it is also dangerous. A blog by Kath Sansom Regulatory flaws: Women were catastrophically failed in the mesh, Primodos and Sodium Valproate tragedies
  4. Content Article
    MP Emma Hardy and Sling The Mesh drafted a letter to MP Maria Caulfield for an update on mesh centres, waiting times and outcome measures. The letter was sent in January 2023 and the reply has been received this week and shared by Sling the Mesh.
  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.  Hi Dr Fitzgerald, can you tell us a bit about yourself? I am a double board-certified obstetric gynaecologist, urogynaecologist and pelvic reconstructive surgeon at Magee Women’s Hospital in Pittsburgh. My work includes pelvic floor reconstruction, including vaginal prolapse and urinary incontinence. Other gynaecology surgical specialists include; gynae oncology for cancers of the female reproductive tract, and minimally invasive gynaecology surgery for the treatment of endometriosis and fibroids. What made you want to become a gynaecology surgeon? I knew this was a field that was rife with surgical challenges and inequality – we need the most motivated surgeons and brightest minds! There is so much taboo around what we do that I knew I had to lend my voice. What sort of comments did you get personally, or hear more widely, about gynaecology surgery as a specialty when you were in training? That we are not 'real' surgeons. I've heard that so many times. This definitely had an impact on me personally. All of my peers say the same, that they were told they were wasting their surgical and medical talent by going into Gynaecology. There have even been offensive memes created by anaesthetists and shared widely that imply our specialty is less skilled when in fact sub-specialist gynaecology surgeons have low complication rates, on par or superior to those of other surgical disciplines. How does pay impact talent acquisition? If you train in urogynaecology and want to specialise in surgery you are financially disincentivised to choose the gynaecology route. In the US, we are the lowest paid surgeons in medicine.[1,2] Statistics highlight a double layer of discrimination here, with the highest paid being male clinicians who opt to specialise in urology surgery and the lowest paid being female clinicians who specialise in gynaecology surgery.[3] It feels like we are discouraged from the start to look after women. Coupled with the condescending attitudes to our specialty, poor pay leads to skilled clinicians questioning whether they are too talented to treat women and often choosing a different route. Can you tell us about how clinical services are reimbursed in the US and how this impacts gynaecology surgery? The system here uses something called ‘relative value units’ (RVUs) to determine the amount of money reimbursed to the healthcare provider or organisation for each clinical service provided. A payment formula contains three RVUs, one for physician work, one for practice expense, and one for malpractice expense. Unfortunately, the gap between reimbursement for gynaecology surgeries and other types of surgery continues to widen.[4,5] This disincentivises the recruitment of talent into this high-demand field. In a profit-driven medical environment, it also disincentivises healthcare systems from providing gynaecology surgeons with necessary resources, such as: operating room time facilities staff allocation. It is worth mentioning that only three of the 32 people on the committee that determines RVUs are women.[6] How does this lead to patient harm? This low reimbursement leads to patient harm due to long wait times for surgery, inconsistent staffing, decreased surgeon volume and worse outcomes. Lower reimbursement for gynaecology services compared to obstetrics disincentivises generalist obs/gynaes from providing gynaecology care.[7] This leads them to the majority becoming ‘low volume’ surgeons. Surgeons who operate less are less efficient and have worse outcomes; they lack dedicated teams and repetition, increasing surgery time and subsequent patient harm. Can you give an example of how this plays out for patient care? Endometriosis is a good example. It is a complex disease where tissue similar to the uterine lining is found in the abdominal cavity. It causes significant abdominal and menstrual pain, scarring, and infertility. It takes on average 7-10 years to diagnose due to the vague nature of its symptoms, association with painful menses (which are largely dismissed in emergency settings) and lack of specialist training. Endometriosis surgery is extremely complex and requires fellowship training in advanced gynaecologic Surgery. Only one code exists to reimburse for endometriosis surgery and it makes no distinction between a 20 minute laparoscopy where a lesion was briefly ‘burned’ which typically will achieve minimal benefit, and a five hour excisional procedure.[8] Reimbursement for this complex disease is so low (due to lack of complexity codes and payment) that: patients continue to see unskilled providers some US providers who do have the skills to excise endometriosis will only take cash; bankrupting desperate patients in severe pain women are more likely to face long waits for surgery and/or cancelled operations. See the documentary Below the Belt for a more detailed expose on this topic. What needs to happen to make gynaecology surgery better supported so that all patients have access to safe care? In a profit-driven system here in the US, our procedures need to be coded and reimbursed based on the worth of our skill set. Sub-specialist gynaecology surgeons complete 2-4 years of additional fellowship training in advanced procedures. This is often more than their higher-paid surgeon colleagues, for example orthopaedics, which is 5-6 years of training or Urology, which is 5 years without a fellowship. There needs to be fundamental changes to the RVU system, the involvement of the department of Health and Human Services, and legal options citing gender discrimination, though this would be challenging. Ultimately the discrimination and lack of value for gynaecology surgery is ‘baked in’ to the system and is affecting the level of care women receive. This needs to be addressed at every level to value women and their providers and prevent harm. References Wilcox L. General surgery salary report 2022: Surgeon wages up 8%. Weatherby Healthcare, 2022. Accessed online 25/09/2023. Watson KL, King LP. Double Discrimination, the Pay Gap in Gynecologic Surgery, and Its Association With Quality of Care. Obstet Gynecol. 2021;137(4):657-661. Pelley E, Carnes M. When a Specialty Becomes "Women's Work": Trends in and Implications of Specialty Gender Segregation in Medicine. Acad Med. 2020 Oct;95(10):1499-1506. Polan RM, Barber EL. Reimbursement for Female-Specific Compared With Male-Specific Procedures Over Time. Obstet Gynecol. 2021;138(6):878-883. Benoit MF, Ma JF, Upperman BA. Comparison of 2015 Medicare relative value units for gender-specific procedures: Gynecologic and gynecologic-oncologic versus urologic CPT coding. Has time healed gender-worth? Gynecol Oncol. 2017;144(2):336-342. American Medical Association. Composition of the RVS Update Committee (RUC), 2023. Accessed online 25/09/2023. Watson KL, King LP. Double Discrimination, the Pay Gap in Gynecologic Surgery, and Its Association With Quality of Care. Obstet Gynecol. 2021 Apr 1;137(4):657-661. Seckin T. Historic Update to ICD-10 Endometriosis Diagnosis Codes. Seckin Endometriosis Center, 2022. Accessed 25/09/2023. Share your views Do you work in gynaecology or women’s health in the US or another country? Have you experienced comments or barriers similar to Jocelyn? Is your area of health well resourced and funded? What needs to change to help staff provide safe and equitable care? Please comment below (sign up first for free) or get in touch with us at [email protected] to share your insights.
  6. News Article
    A woman who suffered traumatic complications from a vaginal mesh implant has been awarded a record settlement of at least £1m from the NHS. Yvette Greenway-Mansfield, 59, was given a mesh implant at Coventry’s University Hospital in 2009 and went on to suffer serious complications. Her medical negligence claim against the hospital trust found that the surgery was carried out prematurely and unnecessarily and that her consent form had been doctored to include additional risks after Greenway-Mansfield had signed it. Greenway-Mansfield said that being awarded the compensation was a “huge relief”, but added that many other women who have suffered similar damage had received little or no compensation, and criticised the government’s failure to establish a financial redress agency for victims. “I’m not the only one. There are thousands of mes,” she said. “There should be a pot of money to provide damages for these women and a care plan in place as an automatic response to mesh-damaged people. It comes down to a perception of women and women’s health problems. We’ve all had enough of it.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 13 November 2023
  7. News Article
    The use of surgical mesh to treat a common childbirth injury is now suspended in New Zealand because of safety concerns. The extraordinary step, which follows a similar move in the United Kingdom, was announced today by Te Whatu Ora. It is being celebrated by a woman who spearheaded a campaign to highlight the harrowing mesh injuries suffered by her and many other Kiwi women. “It is an acknowledgement that their concerns were not just in their heads,” Sally Walker told the Herald. “It will give us some hope.” About 100 women around the country who are on waiting lists for urogynaecological surgeries involving mesh are being contacted by doctors to tell them their operations for stress urinary incontinence are on hold. The Director-General of Health Dr Diana Sarfati said the Surgical Mesh Roundtable (MRT), an oversight and monitoring group chaired by the Ministry of Health, had been investigating a “pause” since earlier this year. The group’s assessment was that the balance of benefit and harm from the procedure would be improved by the series of additional measures already planned, and it recommended a pause until those measures were substantively in place. “After considering the MRT’s assessment, I have decided to support a pause to allow the following steps to be put in place to reduce the harms linked to the procedure as much as possible,” said Sarfati. Read full story Source: NZ Herald, 22 August 2023
  8. Content Article
    In Australia, as in many other countries, the harms caused by transvaginal mesh surgery have prompted individual and collective attempts to achieve redress. Media outlets covered aspects of the rise of mesh surgery as a procedure, the experience of mesh-affected women and the formal inquiries and legal actions that followed, The authors of this article in the journal Health Expectations conducted a media analysis of the ten most read Australian newspapers and online news media platforms, focusing on how mesh and the interaction of stakeholders in mesh stories were presented to the Australian public. They found that mass media reporting, combined with medicolegal action and an Australian Senate Inquiry, appears to have provided women with greater epistemic justice, with powerful actors considering their stories. They argue that although medical reporting is not recognised in the hierarchy of evidence embedded in the medical knowledge system, in this case, media reporting has contributed to shaping medical knowledge in significant ways.
  9. Content Article
    A patient shares her experience of life-changing complications after a hysterectomy she had at a private hospital and the lack of follow up and help she's received since. She highlights the actions she would like to see in place for private hospitals around informed consent, follow up and support after surgery, and accountability. The patient wishes to remain anonymous. I had a hysterectomy at a private hospital back in 2015. I had a complex history of bowel disease and severe endometriosis and had already had a lifetime of surgeries plus a stoma before the hysterectomy. I had been referred to a particular gynaecologist at the private hospital owing to his expertise in complex cases. The outcome was horrific; my bowel perforated and the contents flooded out through my vagina. I was transferred late at night to a NHS teaching hospital where I spent 3 months faced with the prospect of never eating or drinking again. The complication was an enterocutaneous fistula – one of the most serious complications of abdominal surgery. The private hospital never contacted me. Prior to the operation, I had no information on the likelihood of such a serious complication; a rushed consent form was signed and off I went totally unaware of how this would change my life forever. It sounds dramatic but the lack of communication was just awful: no information, no guidance on what to do if things go wrong. Plus of course I was seriously ill and in no position to challenge anyone. I went on to have an attempted repair that resulted in respiratory failure and sepsis. I’ve never recovered. I now have to wear three bags – two for the fistulae and one for the long-standing ileostomy. I have been told repair is too dangerous, so this is me for life. The systemic inflammation is causing other health issues, including a serious eye condition. If I have the luxury of growing old, it’s going to be difficult managing it all. I understand complications happen, and I’m not saying anyone was negligent. But the outcome for me was the same. I was severely harmed. If there had been mechanisms in place to deal with these rare events, I’m sure I would have managed things differently. I developed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and severe anxiety. I believe it was the poor institutional response, the lack of acknowledgment and information from the hospital that has contributed to this. I have tried to get support and answers, but the hospital told me initially and repeatedly that they were not accountable; private hospitals were merely hosts with no responsibility to the patient. In recent years I have found this isn’t actually true but of course time limits are now exhausted, leaving me to have to fight every step of the way. I have been unable to find an advocate and of course PALS and Community Health Council do not help private patients. There isn’t even an Ombudsman. The private hospital told me outcomes like mine are so rare, that there are no systems in place to support patients as the service would be so rarely used. Rare does not mean never and, if that’s the case, how can they possibly justify taking on complex patients. I feel broken. If someone asked me what would have helped, these are my thoughts: Private hospitals should make their position clear at the outset and prior to any surgery taking place. They should clearly state who is accountable if things go wrong and what steps are in place should a serious outcome occur. Private hospitals should not take on complex cases if they do not have the facilities and expertise to deal with things if things go wrong (most private hospitals do not have ICU facilities). The patient should be given detailed information about the intended procedure and information on what may happen if they decide not to have the procedure. If the outcome is severe, the patient should be supported by an advocate or specialised nurse who can act as a go between for the patient and surgeon. The long-term outlook should be discussed and the patient should be advised of any further options if complications occur. Patients need to have clear signposts to where they can get help whether it be the complaints process or litigation. At the moment it seems the surgeon assumes responsibility for the patient if complications occur. While this may work if the complication is short lived, there seems to be nothing in place if the complication is life changing and permanent. What happens to the patient if the surgeon retires or leaves? No one can or will answer me. I am trying to get answers from the hospital but have been told they may not accept a complaint because I’m out of time. I have explained why I did not make an official complaint earlier as I was told I had nothing to complain about and the hospital was not accountable, plus of course I thought I’d heal. It turns out neither were true. I have and I will never heal. I am in the process of compiling my complaint but I have to prepare myself for a standard letter saying I’m out of time. I'll be pretty devastated if this is the case as moving on without answers is all but impossible .
  10. Content Article
    In this opinion piece for Trust the Evidence, Carl Heneghan and Tom Jefferson draw on data to argue that a 'smokescreen of safety' has long been used in marketing mesh products.
  11. Content Article
    Aortic Dissection is a catastrophic tear in the main artery carrying blood from the heart to the brain, limbs and vital organs. In this webinar, hosted by THINK AORTA, Dr Stephanie Curtis presents on aortic dissection in pregnancy. We also hear from Haleema Saadia, survivor of an aortic dissection, awareness campaigner and Vice-Chair of the National Patient Association for Aortic Dissection.
  12. Content Article
    This blog on the Sling the Mesh website provides an overview of research by Professor Carl Heneghan, Director of the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine at Oxford University, into regulatory issues relating to pelvic mesh. It outlines issues uncovered by Professor Heneghan and his colleagues, including the fact that clinical trial data was not required in the regulation of mesh and that early evidence of complications was ignored in the approval of subsequent devices.
  13. Content Article
    In this blog, Carl Heneghan, Professor of Evidence-based Medicine at the University of Oxford and Clinical Epidemiologist Tom Jefferson look at the long-term consequences of inadequate regulation and approval of pelvic mesh devices. They argue that regulators and health systems around the world failed to heed the early warnings, which lead to thousands of women being irreversibly harmed. They highlight that as early as 1999, a study of 34 women who had ProteGen mesh implants showed that 50% of mesh devices had eroded through the vaginal wall. Boston Scientific voluntarily recalled 20,000 devices as a result. In spite of this, the FDA continued to approve vaginal mesh devices, citing ProteGen as their predicate device.
  14. Content Article
    We often hear the mesh scandal blamed on poor surgeon skill. We also hear the argument that high use mesh implanting surgeons are likely to have fewer patients suffering mesh complications, than a less experienced surgeon. However, this study published in JAMA in October 2018, based on NHS data, shows that high mesh implanting surgeons produce the same or even more mesh complications compared to low volume implanters. Surgeons could insert 20 mesh implants or 120 and yet the risk / complication rate remains the same. Some healthcare professionals believe that better training is the answer. Others think that only allowing mesh insertion at a few specialist centres with expert, experienced surgeons, will reduce complications. But this study from Gurol-Urganci et al. shows this is not the case. Additionally, the “experienced surgeon” argument does not take into account the properties of implanting polypropylene mesh into patients which include: The ticking time bomb quality of mesh which means problems may not start until months or many years down the line – regardless of the skill of a surgeon’s initial placement. The mesh material can trigger a host of illnesses including autoimmune diseases, allergies, ibs, fibromyalgia, nerve damage months or years later. The mesh material can fragment, twist, degrade, shrink. The mesh implanting hooks can cause injuries for up to 40% of patients. For this reason the FDA in America reclassified the hooks up to Class II from Class I in 2016 to allow for special controls. Mesh slings for incontinence are inserted blindly and no amount of training can compensate for a surgery where you cant see what you are doing with women whose pelvic tilts differ. Read Sling the Mesh's blog on the research paper
  15. Content Article
    Outpatient and daycase hysteroscopy and polypectomy (OPHP) are widely recognised methods for the treatment of endometrial polyps. There have been concerns regarding pain affecting satisfaction and tolerability of the outpatient procedure. Dr Bhawana Purwar and colleagues from the Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust conducted a service evaluation of their outpatient hysteroscopy and polypectomy (OPHP) and compared it with their daycase procedures. They concluded that the OPHP is cost-effective and efficient method with reasonable acceptability. It is well tolerated with remarkable success rates and excellent patient satisfaction. As compared to daycase group, it requires less time for recovery and sooner returns to work.
  16. Content Article
    Research paper by Toye et al. published in the Lancet on the experience of women reporting damage from vaginal mesh. The UK’s First Do No Harm report outlined missed opportunities to prevent harm and emphasised the need to incorporate patient voices into healthcare. Due to concerns about, and the subsequent suspension, of mesh for urinary incontinence, thousands of women face the decision about mesh removal surgery. This new study by Toye et al. has explored the experience of living with complications attributed to vaginal mesh surgery so that this knowledge can contribute to improvements in care for those considering mesh, or mesh removal, surgery. Key concerns from women are: I blindly trusted the surgeon. I feel dehumanised, like meat. Mesh surgery has stolen me. I am more than the sum of my body parts. Healthcare professionals are fallible. Mesh removal? Between a rock and a hard place. Seeking another way of knowing in communities. Institutional denial. The issues surrounding surgical mesh have impacts for many areas of clinical medicine, but also implications for device development and innovation. There is key learning for the role of industry, healthcare provision, autonomy, women’s rights, and health education. The study findings provide important insights into experiences that, if placed at the centre of healthcare systems, will ensure safer and more inclusive healthcare. Social sciences can make a positive contribution to healthcare education, practice, and policy. Drawing from a group of women with unique experiences of harm from mesh surgery, the findings support an embodied and dialectic approach in healthcare interactions that can re build trust and contribute to effective and shared decision making in a range of contexts. The findings may also translate to other health setting where treatments aimed to care have caused harm.
  17. News Article
    A trust’s main maternity unit has been rated “inadequate” and given a warning notice amid concerns delayed Caesarean sections are causing harm to babies. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) told Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells Trust to make significant improvements in how quickly it carries out emergency C-sections, the regulator said in a report today. The trust was also told to improve risk management, governance and oversight of services at its Tunbridge Wells Hospital. Inspectors found between April and July last year, 42% of “category 1” emergency Caesareans – defined as those posing an immediate threat to the life of the woman or foetus — at the Tunbridge Wells Hospital were delayed. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence says these should be carried out “as soon as possible and in most situations within 30 minutes of making the decision”. The report identified “ongoing recurrent delays” to emergency Caesareans overnight, as the trusts did not have a second theatre available. This “meant an increased risk of harm, including cases reported by the service such as babies with ‘acute foetal hypoxia’ had emerged due to delayed births”, the inspection report said. It also criticised the trust for not responding to a high level of post-partum haemorrhages, some of which had caused “moderate” harm. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 16 February 2024
  18. News Article
    At least 137,000 women in the UK live with the painful and traumatic consequences of cutting, but there is no provision for reconstructive surgery. In May 2023, Shamsa Araweelo was in the A&E department of a London hospital in excruciating pain. It wasn’t the first time she had sought urgent treatment for the gynaecological damage caused by the female genital mutilation (FGM), or cutting, forced on her as a six-year-old. In fact, this was one of many such visits to emergency departments that Araweelo had made in her desperate attempt to find a surgeon who could help undo the damage done to her as a child and which has caused her so much pain and trauma as an adult. Araweelo says that in A&E she was told that she had severe nerve damage and that it could be reversed through reconstructive surgery. But not in the UK. “No doctor in the country will touch you, because you are an FGM survivor,” Araweelo says she was told. “I felt no compassion, no respect. Only in London did they tell me they wished they had the appropriate training to help me, and it breaks my heart. We are not valued in the UK.” Current NHS rules state that if a health practitioner suspects a patient has been cut, they must report the case to the police and complete a safeguarding risk assessment to determine whether a social care referral is required. Guidance for GPs also recommends referrals for mental health issues related to FGM or referrals to uro-gynaecological specialist clinics. Araweelo says that in all the years she has sought help she has never been offered any kind of support from medical professionals. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 21 December 2023
  19. Event
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    For the first time, RCOG World Congress will be an innovative and inclusive hybrid event, held simultaneously in London and online. To ensure we continue to support healthcare professionals at all stages across the globe, we wanted to provide a format accessible to all. Our hybrid event will feature a 350 in-person face-to-face event at the RCOG’s headquarters in Union Street, London and a state-of-the-art virtual experience available to all. Both will be linked using our virtual event platform and Congress app for networking, 121 meetings, Q&A, polling and live reactions. Find out more and register
  20. News Article
    More than 200 women were harmed when a rogue surgeon carried out operations on them unnecessarily, an NHS inquiry has found. Some of the women were left with life-changing physical problems or unable to work, while many also suffered trauma and serious psychological harm as a result. Overall, 203 women on whom Anthony Dixon performed procedures between 2007 and 2017 came to harm, according to a review by the North Bristol NHS trust (NBT). Dixon, who for years was Britain’s most influential pelvic surgeon, worked for both the trust and the private Spire hospital in the city. In 2017, NBT launched a review of Dixon’s performance and suspended him after dozens of women he had performed procedures on complained that they had experienced appalling consequences, including unmanageable pain and incontinence. The Guardian revealed in late 2017 that 100 women were suing him for medical negligence. Some cases have since been settled, but dozens are ongoing. NBT sacked Dixon in 2019 and he is currently banned from practising in the UK. During the review, 378 women were recalled and asked to set out their dealings with Dixon. All had undergone a procedure called laparoscopic ventral mesh rectopexy (LVMR), in which plastic mesh is inserted to repair weakened tissue in the pelvic floor. In papers presented to NBT’s board on Thursday, board members were told that the inquiry had concluded. “The trust has notified 203 NHS patients that, although their LVMR operation was carried out satisfactorily, they should have been offered alternative treatments before proceeding to surgery. We have defined these patients as suffering ‘harm’ as a result,” it said. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 26 May 2022
  21. Content Article
    Michelle Heffer first started seeing her GP for very heavy periods as a teenager. After having her first ultrasound in 2020, she was diagnosed with two cysts on her ovaries caused by endometriosis. In this Independent article, she tells journalist Maya Oppenheim about the impact of having to wait over three years for surgery to deal with her endometriosis, during which time her condition worsened. Michelle had to give up her job and was at times unable to leave the house because the pain was so debilitating. The article also looks at a new report by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) has found gynaecology waiting lists in England have grown more quickly than any other elective specialty and are now over twice the size they were before the Covid-19 pandemic.
  22. Content Article
    This article looks at recent efforts to increase awareness of female genital mutilation (FGM) amongst healthcare professionals in the UK. Dr Victoria Kinkaid conducted a UK-wide survey to find out how much medical students knew about FGM. Results from the survey highlighted a gap in medical student education around FGM. Further exploration with the help of focus groups revealed that this knowledge gap also affected other frontline professionals with mandatory reporting duties for FGM, including teachers, midwives and social workers.  Working with her MSc supervisor, Dr Heather May Morgan, Victoria launched a four week course entitled 'Female Genital Mutilation (FGM): Health, Law, and Socio-Cultural Sensitivity' in 2022 to try and bridge this gap. This article looks at the impact of the course and how Victoria and Heather's work to increase awareness is expanding.
  23. Content Article
    This June marks nine years of Sling The Mesh, the campaign group set up by Kath Sansom after she was harmed by pelvic mesh surgery. In this blog, Kath reflects on the valuable support the group has offered thousands of people harmed by surgical mesh. She highlights the successes the group has achieved by coming together to raise public awareness and advocate for better regulation and support for patients. She also outlines the many issues still faced by people harmed by mesh surgery and describes how Sling The Mesh will continue to press for better informed consent, greater transparency and an effective redress system for harmed patients. The value of patient-led movements in healthcare activism is hard to overstate. These movements often emerge from personal experiences of harm—they are driven by people who never planned to become agents of change, but their own experiences have made them determined to advocate for improvement and raise awareness for others. June 2024 marks the ninth anniversary of Sling The Mesh—the campaign group I set up after I was harmed by pelvic mesh surgery. What began as an ember of anger at what had happened to me has now become a global support movement with more than 10,400 members. The group began as a campaign for women affected by transvaginal mesh, but we quickly realised there was a need to advocate for people harmed by all types of surgical mesh, including rectopexy mesh, hernia mesh and for men with mesh slings. For nearly a decade, members have offered each other information, advice and signposting via our private Facebook group. We have successfully advocated for regulatory reform and continue to press for better informed consent, greater transparency and an effective redress system for harmed patients. What sets Sling The Mesh apart is our commitment to our grassroots origins—we refuse to set up as a charity and remain as a pro bono patient advocacy group. We don’t want to be influenced by anything other than our first-hand experiences of life-changing harm. The campaign needs to remain free from corporate interests and political agendas. From small beginnings, Sling The Mesh has grown into a formidable force for change. As a former journalist and photographer, I understood from the outset that we would have a struggle to get media recognition because of the taboo nature of the topic. But it was important to humanise this health scandal. We repeatedly told our members’ stories and media outlets gradually began to realise that mesh was a serious women’s health issue. It began small but snowballed, with the media covering many of our accounts of harm. Our personal experiences meant we were able to raise awareness of the devastating and life-changing consequences of mesh surgery complications. As a result, politicians began to get involved and helped highlight the issues we were raising in Parliament and amongst policymakers. It has been incredibly hard work, but I’m proud of what Sling The Mesh has achieved so far. For me, our key achievements are: Raising public awareness and shining a spotlight on the issue of surgical mesh complications, ensuring that the individual stories are heard and acknowledged. Influencing policy by advocating for changes to the regulation of medical devices, pushing for greater scrutiny and more stringent safety standards. Providing support and solidarity to people affected by mesh, giving them a safe space to share their experiences, seek advice and access resources. Bringing together individuals from diverse backgrounds to campaign for a common goal. The sense of community we have fostered has been a source of strength and resilience to so many. Pushing successfully for funding for a new outcome measure for pelvic surgeries. However, the fight is far from over—while we have made significant progress, there is still much to be done to ensure that the voices of patients are prioritised, and their rights protected within the healthcare system. Sling The Mesh will continue to advocate for meaningful change and support anyone harmed by surgical mesh. One of our top priorities going forward is pushing for a Sunshine Payment Act in the UK, like the law that has been in place in America since 2013. This Act would legally require all manufacturers and pharma companies to report any money given to doctors, hospitals, health charities, parliamentary groups, researchers and Royal Colleges to an open database. It would be a huge step for patient safety as this database would help healthcare leaders start assessing the effects of industry money on bias in prescribing and treatment options, and how it affects research integrity. Related reading The difficulty of medical negligence cases and why financial redress from the Government is so important for mesh victims “There’s no problem with the mesh”: A personal account of the struggle to get vaginal mesh removal surgery Specialist mesh centres are failing to offer adequate support to women harmed by mesh (Patient Safety Learning and Sling the Mesh)
  24. Content Article
    This episode of the Business of Healthcare podcast delves into the complex and sensitive topic of the mesh scandal which has impacted countless women's lives. Host Tara Humphrey welcomes Consultant Gynecologist and Urogynecology subspecialist Dr Wael Agur to share his expert insights on the rise and fall of mesh devices in surgical procedures. Wael offers a candid look at the multifaceted issues surrounding patient consent, the role of manufacturers, aggressive marketing strategies, and the ethical dilemmas faced by medical professionals.
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