Surgical mesh: Thousands of women affected
Women whose health has been damaged by vaginal mesh implants should be not forced down “such an adversarial route” as taking legal action against the manufacturers, peers have argued.
Health minister Baroness Merron said the government was considering its response to the Hughes report, which earlier this year recommended the creation of an ex gratia redress scheme, but did not say when it would make an announcement.
Conservative peer Baroness Cumberlege said such a scheme “needs to be put in place now, with interim payments being made as soon as possible”.
Speaking in a debate last week that she tabled, the baroness said she was “delighted” to read about a group settlement involving 140 mesh-harmed patients last month – in which the women received undisclosed amounts of compensation from three drugs manufacturers – but there were “thousands of others harmed by mesh, still suffering, who are not included in the settlement”.
She added: “The great majority of women cannot afford to bring lawsuits against the mighty drug companies; too many of them fail, and this was not their fault. They are not being offered the support they need.”
Baroness Cumberledge chaired the government-commissioned independent medicines and medical devices safety review, which looked at three medical interventions – one of which was surgical meshes – and reported in 2020.
Baroness Sugg, another Conservative peer, agreed that “more needed to be done”.
She said vaginal mesh implants had “impacted at least 10,000 women, probably many more”, with complications including chronic pain, infections, organ perforation and, in some cases, permanent disability.
“While that case in August was a success, and some women have pursued legal action individually, these cases have often been long, costly and emotionally draining.
“Many women do not have the financial resources or the legal knowledge to take on large medical corporations or hospitals.”
Baroness Bennett, former leader of the Green Party, said that government figures indicated there were 127,000 mesh implants.
“The campaigners say there may have been many more. Are the government looking into making sure that they have the proper records of all people affected?”
Conservative peer Lord Mancroft said he had been “drawn into” the issue “by the experience of someone very close to my family who has suffered intolerably, has been treated appallingly when she should have been helped and has had to fight to have her health issues addressed”.
He said that, “after a period of legal wrangling”, she was offered compensation of £25,000, less costs of £2,500.
“That is compensation for pain, suffering, five operations over eight years, loss of home and career and substantial and catastrophic financial loss, leading to a life on benefits. No reasonable person could possibly conclude that this is adequate redress.”
Baroness Merron sought to reassure peers that she was considering the recommendations of the Hughes report.
“As we have heard, lives have been irrevocably changed by vaginal mesh implants, and we have to ensure that lessons are learned…
“Where a product causes injury, while it may be possible for an individual to pursue a claim for compensation directly against the manufacturer under existing legislation, I absolutely take the points made in the chamber today that legal costs, practicalities, stress and the further distress that obviously goes alongside it often make this totally unrealistic.”
However, she said the new government needed to “carefully consider” the report before coming to a decision.
She committed to providing an update on the report “at the earliest opportunity”.
Leave a Comment