Call for legal action on mesh firms
MSP Neil Findlay is calling on the Scottish Government to follow the United States and sue manufacturers for the costs of treating women injured by mesh implants.
Mesh manufacturer Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary Ethicon, which supplied thousands of implants to hospitals across Scotland, are being sued by state authorities in Washington, Kentucky, Mississippi and California, accused of misrepresenting the serious risks of mesh.
The campaigning MSP said: “The Scottish Government should be pursuing mesh manufacturers with the full might of the law for what is undoubtedly the biggest medical scandal of modern times. The very least they should be doing is following the US in taking civil action to at least recoup some of the millions of pounds this scandal will cost in medical treatment and for the lives that changed forever.”
The MSP, who has also called on Scotland’s Lord Advocate to examine possible criminal prosecution, said: “If a car manufacturer brought out vehicles which caused the level of life-changing injuries and deaths mesh implants have caused, there would be no hesitation.”
Mesh manufacturers in the US have already pledged more than £3 billion in compensation to victims, with individual lawsuits topping £80 million.
Washington State’s civil action begins in April.