Labour is backing a public inquiry into controversial vaginal mesh implants that has left thousands of women depressed, unable to have sex and on the brink of suicide due to their excruciating pain.
The party is also calling for the procedure to be immediately stopped in England while the inquiry is underway.
Labour’s backing comes as MPs prepare to discuss the impact of mesh implants in a debate taking place in Westminster Hall at 9.30am today.
More than 800 women are suing the NHS and the implants’ manufacturers after complaining of crippling pain in a scandal that has been compared to thalidomide.
The NHS has even been accused of sweeping such complications under the carpet in an effort to dodge media attention.
After previously denying their implants were causing women’s discomfort, mesh manufacturer Johnson & Johnson paid out $57 million to a sufferer from Philadelphia last month after a jury found the company to be negligent and its product defective.
Pressure is mounting for a UK ban of the ‘gold-standard’ treatment for urinary stress incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse.
Labour is backing a public inquiry into controversial vaginal mesh implants (pictured)
‘A public health scandal’
Sharon Hodgson MP, Labour’s Shadow Public Health Minister, said: ‘Mesh implants have left women in permanent pain, unable to walk, and unable to work. This is an ongoing public health scandal and the Government need to do much more to support those affected.
‘Ministers have said NICE will publish updated guidance for these products but not until January 2018. Mesh implants should be taken off the market now until we know more about the threat they pose to women’s safety.
‘The Government have failed to answer big questions about the extent of this public health scandal, including how many women have been affected and why a product with such terrible risks was allowed into the market in the first place.
‘Labour is calling for a full inquiry to uncover the extent of the harm done by mesh implants so we can be sure that this never happens again.’
Today’s debate was called by Emma Hardy, MP for Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle.
‘I’VE BEEN ON THE BRINK OF SUICIDE. MY KIDS KEPT ME GOING’
Janette Nelson, 43, was on the brink of suicide after suffering agonising pain from a vaginal mesh implant she had fitted
A mother-of-three has revealed she was on the brink of suicide after suffering agonising pain from a vaginal mesh implant she had fitted.
Janette Nelson, 43, from Newtownards, Northern Ireland, said the only think that kept her going was her children, but she still battles guilt every day as she depends on them to help her wash, dress and even catheterise after the procedure left her unable to control her bladder.
The former hairdresser also blames her implant for the breakdown of her relationship as her boyfriend left her when the pain was too severe for her to have sex.
Unable to work, her career has also been destroyed.
‘My children lost their mummy’
Ms Nelson had the most common type of mesh, known as TVT, fitted in March 2012 in an attempt to cure her urinary stress incontinence.
She said: ‘Immediately once my tape was fitted I woke up with excruciating pain in my groin; its indescribable.’
Just one week later, Ms Nelson wet herself while out with her children and now relies on her eldest daughter to help her catheterise every day.
Due to the excruciating pain of the mesh, Ms Nelson has been forced to rely on her mother and sister to help her raise her children.
She said: ‘My children lost their mummy. I’ve been on the brink of suicide.
‘My kids kept me going. I was useless as a mum but I’m still their mum. It’s all been about me for the past few years.’
Ms Nelson, 43, pictured with her daughters Bryanne (bottom), 17, and Zofie, 12
‘My boyfriend left me because of it’
As well as affecting her as a parent, Ms Nelson also blames the implant for the loss of her love life and career.
She said: ‘I had a boyfriend when this started but the sex was excruciating, neither of us could cope with it. My boyfriend left me because of it.
‘I used to work as a hairdresser; always on my feet, always very confident, but now I can hardly walk and I can’t control my bladder so I can’t work. It’s really knocked my confidence.’
Government rejects a ban
Last month the Government released its three-year investigation into the mesh scandal and rejected calls for a widespread ban on the implants, which can shrink, twist and curl at the edges, leading to nerve damage.
Vaginal mesh has been considered a high-risk device for nearly a decade in the US, with bodies accepting up to 40 per cent of women may experience side effects.
Some studies, published in an array of scientific journals, have shown that pain, erosion and perforation from the surgery can affect up to 75 per cent of women.
The alarming evidence prompted officials in three US states to suspend the practice and saw them call for an urgent review into its safety.
Suspended in Scotland
The implants’ use has been suspended in Scotland since 2014 pending a safety review, however, hundreds of women are still believed to be having the surgery.
The mesh, introduced 20 years ago, was promoted as a quick, cheap alternative to complex surgery for incontinence. It was dubbed the ‘gold-standard’ treatment.
Due to it not requiring specialist training to implant, outraged women have since called for tougher regulations in order to conduct such surgery.
More than 10,000 women a year have the procedure. Some 7,800 have suffered lacerations and nerve damage from the mesh breaking into tiny fragments.