Up to 170,000 people who have had hernia mesh implants in England over the past six years could be battling agonising complications.
Between 12 and 30 per cent of the 570,000 people who have had the procedure have been left in such severe pain they are unable to walk or work.
Experts said on the BBC’s flagship Victoria Derbyshire show that some patients of the common procedure have even been left suicidal.
This follows the vaginal mesh scandal, which has left thousands of women around the world unable to have sex and dependent on wheelchairs to get about.
Tireless fights by campaigners were rewarded earlier this year, when officials declared a temporary ban on the brittle material being used to treat incontinence.
However, regulatory body the MHRA continues to back the use of hernia mesh – despite the high complication rates.
Thousands of women have been left on the brink of suicide, unable to work and reliant on wheelchairs due to the controversial implants (Sling The Mesh campaigners are pictured outside the Houses of Parliament). The device is used for prolapse, incontinence and hernias
One in 10 people will develop a hernia, with the most common treatment being a doctor pushing the bulging tissue back into the body and covering it with surgical mesh.
Up to 100,000 of these operations have taken place every year in England since 2011-to-2012.
Leading surgeons have warned the 12-to-30 per cent complication rate may mean between 68,000 and 170,000 patients have been left with life-changing side effects in the past six years.
But the number may be much higher due to mesh being used for hernia operations since the 1990s.
NHS trusts in England have no consistent guidelines on how best to treat hernia patients.
But the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) backs the use of mesh.
Labour MP Owen Smith, who chairs the All Party Parliamentary Group on Surgical Mesh Implants, argues the MHRA’s job is to ensure medical devices are safe.
He adds the agency is not listening to the experiences of affected patients.
‘Companies ultimately have to take some responsibility for this.
‘It’s not good for them to give this to the NHS and then they walk away with the NHS carrying any liability,’ he said on the Victoria Derbyshire show.
The MHRA argues there is insufficient evidence to discontinue the use mesh for hernias. The Royal College of Surgeons agrees the device is the ‘most effective way’ to treat the condition.
But the private hernia surgeon Dr Ulrike Muschaweck is urging for medics to use the suture technique rather than mesh. This involves using strips of surgical adhesive tape to close wounds.
Unfortunately, the technique is rarely taught to young surgeons, she adds.
Dr Muschaweck claims she has removed 3,000 meshes due to patients suffering chronic pain, of which only went on to be free of any discomfort.
Consultant urogynaecologist Dr Suzy Elneil, who was a fierce campaigner in the bid to ban vaginal mesh on the NHS in England, estimates treating a patient with hernia mesh complications comes to at least £25,000.
This is due to the costs associated with removing the mesh, a further operation to treat the hernia and follow-up care.
Kath Sansom, founder of the 6,300-strong Sling The Mesh group, has previously attacked private doctors after data suggests they can earn up to £1250,000 if they fit four women with a mesh implant each week. She believes they put their ‘flashy lifestyles’ before patient safety
The vaginal mesh scandal came to light in April 2017, when the NHS tried to dodge media attention over the implants that left hundreds of women in agony.
Vaginal mesh has been the subject of various legal proceedings across the world, with figures suggesting more than 100,000 are suing the manufacturers of the devices.
This comes after hundreds of private surgeons were accused of being ‘cash-hungry’ by pushing women to undergo barbaric vaginal mesh surgery.
Campaigners unearthed data last July that revealed urogynaecologists can ‘double their salaries’ by offering the controversial procedure in their own clinics.
Calculations by the prominent group Sling The Mesh show surgeons can earn an extra £125,000 by giving four women mesh each week privately.
Vaginal mesh, made of brittle plastic that can curl, twist and cut through tissue, has been branded the ‘biggest medical scandal’ since thalidomide
Tireless fights by campaigners, backed by MailOnline, were rewarded last July, when officials declared a temporary ban on mesh being used to treat incontinence (Sling The Mesh campaigners are pictured outside the House of Commons following a debate earlier this year)
Vaginal mesh has been subject of various legal proceedings across the world, with figures suggesting more than 100,000 are suing the manufacturers of the devices (Sling The Mesh campaigners are pictured outside Parliament earlier this year)