800 women to sue NHS over ‘ barbaric’ post-birth implants

MORE than 800 women are taking legal action against the NHS and manufacturers over faulty implants issued following childbirth complications.

The vaginal mesh implants are commonly used to treat conditions such as incontinence or pelvic organ prolapse but can cause severe pain and disability by cutting through tissue.

Up to one in 11 women suffer complications from the ‘ barbaric’ devices, with some patients left in wheelchairs.

One woman was left in such agony that she ‘mapped out’ her own suicide – saying she only stopped for her children.

Many of the victims want the implants to be banned and say they were never warned about the risks. Labour MP Owen Smith has also called for an investigation into the use of the devices. The implants are widely prescribed on the NHS and 92,000 women were fitted with them between April 2007 and March 2015. They are produced by several manufacturers, including US giant Johnson and Johnson.

The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) says that, for the majority of women, the implants are safe and effective. But a recent review in Scotland found they should not be routinely used for pelvic organ prolapse, and in America thousands of women have taken legal action against manufacturers.

Now more than 800 British women may take legal action against the NHS and manufacturers, according to the BBC.

Experts believe that if their case is successful, the NHS payout could be tens of millions of pounds. Dr Sohier Elneil, of London’s University College Hospital, said a ‘typical’ patient is ‘incapacitated by severe pain of a chronic nature’.

Kate Langley had to give up her job as a childminder due to her intense pain. Describing the devices as ‘barbaric’, she told the BBC she has had 53 hospital admissions to try to end the pain.

She said the first surgeon who examined her found the mesh had ‘cut its way through [her vagina] – like a cheese-wire.’

Claire Cooper began to experience pain three years after she got the implant, leaving her husband to act as her ‘carer’.

However doctors initially dismissed her complaints as imaginary. It led her to ‘map out’ her suicide, but she decided she wanted to live for her children.

The MHRA said it was ‘committed to help address the serious concerns raised by some patients’.