Sling the Mesh Campaign Taking Strong Steps

Mesh Medical Device News Desk, November 12, 2017~ Sling the Mesh, a campaign in the UK to have pelvic mesh removed from the market, has made enormous strides in getting the word out about transvaginal mesh, made of polypropylene to treat incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse.

The campaign, organized on Twitter and Facebook (see Here) has arranged a debate with Parliament in an effort to have pelvic mesh surgeries suspended.

Kath Sansom at July 18, 2017 rally at London Parliament, BBC video

Now organizer Kath Sansom is approaching the government with a new concern for the government health care system- the cost!

The Cambs Times editor John Elworthy, in this YouTube video from the newsroom, calls the injuries of thousands of implanted women in the UK, a "national scandal."

The paper's support of journalist Sansom has allowed her to report the story for two years, which also led to a debate in Parliament where MP Owen Smith has been instrumental in bringing the campaign forward.

Pain Medications sent to Cambs Times

The paper is now covering another angle on the story- the cost to consumers for pain medications.

Elworthy said some people “sent in their prescriptions to show the misery extended to these people through botched NHS procedures.”

Asking women to send in their prescription drugs to treat pain, the report concludes mesh problems are costing the National Health Service (NHS) a fortune in medication costs for pain and infection as well as tests and scans. In the UK, the government pays for health care. Patients pay for their medications.

To make the point, the paper asked women to send in their medications.

Taking bags of medications used to treat pain from the surgeries and putting a number of them is the latest tool as seen in CambTimes here in this YouTube video.

In the UK, final guidelines on the use of both stress urinary incontinence (SUI) and POP mesh will be published and finalized in 2019.

A Mesh Oversight Group Report issued in July, encourages doctors to learn more about mesh implantation and for specialist centers to treat complications. It does not recommend any curtailing of the current use of mesh for POP and SUI.

Meanwhile the NHS continues to insist the risk of complications is low, at 1-3%.##