Vaginal mesh ban ‘a retrograde step’, surgeons say

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has recently said that banning vaginal mesh implants would remove an important treatment for some women suffering from a prolapse. The recent BBC article also looked at comments from a surgeon at King’s College Hospital who said there was a misconception that all types of mesh caused a problem and a campaigner who was protesting against all types of vaginal mesh and tape, after being left in constant pain.

Christian Beadell, a senior solicitor within our medical negligence department, spoke about the recent comments.

“It is interesting to see a voice from the medical profession starting to emerge in the ongoing debate over the relative merits of a total ban on the use of mesh in vaginal procedures. This was recently discussed in a BBC Panorama programme on Monday 11th December when it emerged that surgeons were not fully informed by the manufacturers of some of the risks that emerged after years of clinical applications involving vaginal mesh (Read more here).

However, despite these concerns, mesh has benefited many patients and when very experienced practitioners such as Professor Linda Cardozo , OBE argue against a total ban, it would be behove the MHRA and NICE to include this within their thinking rather than bend to a tide of public pressure.”