Chamber and committees

Marion Garland submission of 23 August 2021

PE1865/PPP: Suspend all surgical mesh and fixation devices

I am a Mesh Damaged woman who received a vaginal TVTO implant in 2011.

I had no reason not to trust what my surgeon told me was the Gold Standard and that it had the fastest recovery timescale.

I did ask the correct questions and even mentioned the newer Class II warning but was assured he had no problems with the hundreds of patients he had done or the mesh itself. That was a lie and it destroyed the old healthy outgoing me. If I had been fully aware of the risks and the true percentage of harm I would have said no.

As time has gone on and more information has come out about degrading mesh and the toxic substances being released into my body I realise that I am never going to heal or feel well ever again for as long as it is inside me. It was a permanent implant and there is no one in Scotland who has any proved track record with removal that would stand open public scrutiny or reassure me that they are competent.

The only real help and information I have ever received has been from others like me and I have campaigned with the ladies who submitted the Hear our Voice Petition PE1517 Elaine Holmes and Olive McIlroy. They united pelvic mesh damaged women across Scotland and the rest of the world.

That petition made me believe that once the Government and the medical profession understood the massive harm untested, unregulated and unlisted mesh implants were doing to patients that this would get sorted and proper regulations put in place. That has not happened. 7 years and 3 different governments later mesh use, mesh users and more trials are increasing.

The disbelief and the growing understanding that big business and their interests come before patient care or even human rights has made me again write on behalf of all people harmed or who will be harmed by the permanent products made from mesh.

Petition PE1865 is important. A suspension is needed so that proper regulation, independent audit and surgeon oversight backed by law is enforced. The immediate withdrawal of cancer linked protacks is a necessity and should be done as quickly as possible. This also brings into question how few competent removal surgeons we have who can remove not just protacks but mesh implants as well.

As a TVTO implant there are no surgeons in Scotland whom I would place trust in to remove my device and am sure rectopexy and hernia damaged patients will also feel the same. Surgeon oversight is non-existent and as so many surgeons have ignored or further damaged patients then this is a problem that will only grow with time and cost more money for life long care of damaged patients.

The fact that no prior testing of mesh to see if a patient is allergic to mesh or any of the substances used makes me wonder if we have any system of testing medical implants or do we rubber stamp the American FDA approval which in practice only tests 2% of implants. If I get my hair dyed my hairdresser carries out a test 24hrs before. If I eat a sandwich Natasha's law tells me what allergens are in every bite. Where are the safety protocols for permanent implants?

In my opinion continued mesh use without patient safety issues being addressed fully and external oversight is illegal and breaches human rights legislation because patients are basically being experimented on and not given the true facts about what is being placed in them.

Patients are being harmed by mesh implants and yet non-mesh choices are being withdrawn or hidden by mesh supporters within our NHS. This surely goes against what the NHS used to stand for.

I ask that Petition PE1865 is accepted, not for me - it is too late for that - but for all those who could be saved from having the life they do have destroyed.

Mesh should only be a treatment reserved as a last resort because of the harm it causes.