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.

The move follows a campaign by Scottish victims which led to their routine use on the NHS north of the Border being halted. Over the past 20 years, more than 20,000 women in Scotland were given the implants, but some have suffered painful and debilitating complications.

The women taking legal action include more than 400 in Scotland.

The devices are produced by several manufacturers including American giant Johnson and Johnson. They are made from polypropylene, the same material used in some sports drinking bottles.

Many of the victims said they were never warned about the risks. Thousands of women have taken legal action in the US. British experts believe if they are successful, the NHS payout for compensation could be tens of millions of pounds.

Dr Sohier Elneil, a consultant urogynaecologist at University College Hospital in London said patients can ‘become so incapacitated that many of them are either walking by crutches or sitting in wheelchairs’ and ‘become unable to look after their families’.

The Scottish Mesh Survivors campaign was led by Elaine Holmes and Olive McIlroy who both suffered life-changing injuries from the implants. Now, the implants must not be offered routinely to women in Scotland, and if they are, patients must be told of the risks.

But they are still prescribed in England and Labour MP Owen Smith, who wants Parliament to debate the issue, has called for a probe into the use of the devices.

Professor Carl Heneghan, of Oxford University, said manufacturers have to provide little evidence before a product is clinically approved and made available on the NHS.

One leaked email from Johnson & Johnson seen by the BBC suggested it had known problems existed with one of its products since 2004.

In response, however, Johnson & Johnson claimed these allegations were ‘extremely misleading’.