Health Secretary Humza Yousaf has refused campaigners’ call for an independent review into the use of mesh in all surgical procedures.
Patients who blame mesh products for leaving them disabled and in chronic pain want the Scottish Government to suspend the use of them.
The issue was debated in the Scottish Parliament last week after a petition calling for an independent review was brought forward by Scottish Global Mesh Alliance campaigners Roseanna Clarkin and Lauren McDougall.
However, Yousaf denied their calls, leaving many of those whose lives have been affected by mesh claiming they are being “ignored” by the government.
Roseanna, 39, who has been left with crippling pain after mesh was used on her umbilical hernia in 2015, said: “The Scottish Government has ignored us for eight years and this is them ignoring us all over again.
“The government just doesn’t understand the damage being done and they are just closing their ears when those whose lives have been ruined by mesh procedures are desperately trying to tell them.”
From the late 90s until 2018, women in Scotland were treated with polypropylene mesh implants for stress urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse.
It caused severe pain and life-changing side-effects, including mesh erosion, which often led to further surgery.
While the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review called for a pause in the use of vaginal mesh, the products are not banned for all procedures.
Roseanna said thousands of people who underwent procedures where mesh was inserted into other parts of the body have also experienced problems - similar to those affected by vaginal mesh.
She accused the government of refusing their plea to carry out an independent review into the use of all mesh and those affected by the procedures because the findings would be “catastrophic.”
The mum-of-three, from Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire, also called on the government to create clear pathways for patients who suffer complications from mesh procedures when they require medical help.
She said: “The government said the same to those who had been affected by transvaginal mesh too, that was before all vaginal mesh procedures were banned.
“Like vaginal mesh survivors who had to fight for years, will it take us 10 years to get them to listen? And how many people have to suffer before they do?”
In 2021, the Scottish Health Technologies Group (SHTG) recommended the continued availability of surgical mesh as an option for elective repair of hernia operations in adults in Scotland.
Last week, the Health Secretary said given the conclusions of the SHTG’s conclusions, a further review into mesh would not be “warranted.”
He said that “creating a specialist centre” as suggested by the petitioners, would potentially “pull resources into one health board area” and force patients to travel.
He added that the use of mesh in hernia repair are procedures which are not performed “frequently”.
The Health Secretary went on to state there are currently “very few - frankly any alternatives” to mesh in some procedures.
He said that to suspend the use of mesh would leave a cohort of people with limited or indeed no treatment options.
Mhairi Foley underwent a mesh abdominal repair treatment after a Caesarean section in August 2019 - a procedure which she says has been left disabled and in excruciating pain.
She has called on the Health Secretary to meet with campaigners.
Mhairi, 42, from Dunfermline, Fife, said: “Humza Yousaf now needs to properly sit down with campaigners and listen to them.
“It’s a lot harder to look someone in the eye who is physically and emotionally hurting and it’s not as easy to dismiss their issues when face to face.”
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “The Scottish Government is aware that some patients have experienced complications after surgery, and we take the concerns of the campaigners seriously. We commissioned the Scottish Health Technologies Group to produce two reports into the use of mesh in hernia repair.
“The reports supported the continued use of mesh, but also stressed the importance of informed consent and the availability of alternative treatments. Together with Health Boards, the British Hernia Society, and others we are working on the reports’ findings.
"Mr Yousaf would give consideration to any meeting requests should they be made by the campaigners.”
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