Vaginal Mesh Claims

What is vaginal mesh surgery?

A vaginal mesh is a device used to treat urogynaecological conditions for stress incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse. Stress incontinence is a very common condition for women after childbirth and at menopause with around 20% of women suffering from this condition. Pelvic organ prolapse affects up to half of women who have had children and occurs when a pelvic organ (which can include the bladder, rectum or uterus) moves out of place. Commonly, this happens when the pelvic muscles are weakened or damaged.

Pelvic organ prolapse can be very life limiting making it difficult to use the toilet and causing painful symptoms in the vagina and loss of sensation. The mesh was aimed to give support to weakened organs and repair damaged tissue.

Mesh was used in the UK from the mid-1990s and data was produced to the effect that between April 2008 and March 2017, 100,516 patients had a tape insertion procedure for stress incontinence and 27,016 patients underwent a mesh procedure for pelvic organ prolapse. In the same period, 71,350 had a non-mesh procedure for pelvic organ prolapse.

The initial trials indicated low rates of complication and high success rates but controversy started to build when there was a body of counter-evidence that mesh wasn’t as efficient as indicated and that there was a higher rate of complication with 1 in 15 women suffering complications warranting removal of the mesh by surgery.

Vaginal mesh negligence

There were a number of cases where patients suffered serious harm from surgery including mesh erosion/extrusion, such as vaginal scarring, fistula formation, painful sex, bladder infection, bladder perforation, bowel and nerve trauma and chronic pain usually in the pelvis, back and legs. It was thought to be one of the most shocking NHS scandals of its time with one of the main complaints being a failure to inform patients of the risk. This included private patients as well as NHS patients.

Following calls from patients and senior professors against the use of mesh, The Independent and Medical Devices Safety Review recommended that doctors pause using mesh and this was implemented by the government in July 2018 pending a review. The review led by Baroness Julia Cumberlege and the report of the IMMDS (Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety) entitled First Do No Harm was published in July 2020 and the government finally responded in July 2021.

The review attracted immediate attention and the NICE Guidelines for Urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse in women: management was finally published on 2 April 2019 which is relied upon by medical professionals to date.

While mesh is not banned, it is recommended to be used as a last resort and under very strict supervision for exceptional cases.

Many patients continue to suffer debilitating conditions relating to mesh procedures. There are more recent statistics supporting that the rate of complications is as high as 1 in 6 patients.

Notwithstanding the reports, reviews, and strict recommendations as to how best to treat patients suffering from organ prolapse and stress incontinence, there are worrying reports projecting that the UK has plans to become Europe’s key market for pelvic mesh within 8 years. New research is being undertaken to support mesh products which is reported to fail to properly account for the risks and appearing to exaggerate the benefits.

There are some excellent dedicated mesh online support groups available, with the most well-known website being https://slingthemesh.co.uk

Under English law, medical practitioners are required to act in accordance with a reasonable body of medical opinion and if they fall below this standard and cause loss or injury to patients, they are liable under the law of negligence. Osbornes Law has represented patients in medical negligence actions against private doctors and NHS Trusts in relation to vaginal mesh products.

How to make a vaginal mesh claim

If you have undergone vaginal mesh treatment and feel that you may have suffered injury as a result, then please do not hesitate to contact partner and specialist medical negligence lawyer Stephanie Prior on stephanie.prior@osborneslaw.com or Jodi Newton, Senior Associate Solicitor, on jodi.newton@osborneslaw.com