Mesh implants are used by surgeons to reinforce weak tissue in operations for prolapse, stress incontinence (male and female), hernias, and some breast reconstructions. They are also used in some veterinary surgeries.

Most surgical mesh is a permanent polypropylene implant. Over time, it can harden, fragment, twist. It can cause severe complications such as pain, infections, mobility problems, nerve and organ damage, autoimmune disorders, and allergic reactions. Reported conditions include UTIs, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, lupus, psoriasis, and food intolerances.

Complications may arise immediately or many years later, making the true scale of harm difficult to track. Removal is major, complex surgery and sometimes impossible. See our Surveys page for details of complications.

Pelvic mesh was introduced with minimal evidence and, for a decade, lacked a specific hospital code, meaning NHS data vastly underestimates those affected. New products continue to be approved under flimsy approval systems such as Europe’s “Equivalence” and the US 510(k), which allow devices to be cleared without robust safety trials. Oxford Professor Carl Heneghan demonstrated this by showing that supermarket orange netting could meet approval criteria.

Globally, long-term complications remain poorly recorded.

For background reading on the role of industry funding in the mesh scandal this article by Jonathan Gornall describes how mesh became a four-letter word.

Campaign – our impact

• Financial redress; ongoing lobbying for compensation ℹ️ℹ️
• Improved pathways of care for all mesh injured patients ℹ️
• Lobby for Sunshine transparency legislation to uncover hidden industry funding ℹ️ℹ️
• Champion all nine First Do No Harm recommendations ℹ️ℹ️
• Medical Devices Outcomes Registry to track implant outcomes ℹ️ℹ️
• Influenced landmark APPRAISE study tracking patient outcomes after pelvic surgeries ℹ️ℹ️
• International awareness highlighting a need for fully informed patient consent ℹ️ℹ️
• Bad science; empower patients, policymakers and media to spot flimsy research ℹ️ℹ️
• Mandatory reporting by doctors to the MHRA Yellow Card system ℹ️
• Advocate for fair legal time limits for harmed patients #raisethelimit ℹ️

📧 Get in touch: slingthemesh@gmail.com

Latest from Sling The Mesh

• 
  Navigating uncertainty – the human impact of pelvic mesh complications
  A lack of awareness among GPs and inconsistent referral pathways are among the biggest frustrations faced by women seeking support for pelvic mesh complications, a new study has found.
• 
  New documentary exposes the human cost of the global pelvic mesh scandal
  A new international documentary channel launches its first film today (1 October), by telling the story of the devastating impact of the pelvic mesh scandal, one of the most significant failures in women’s healthcare of our time.
• 
  Mesh Removal: More Questions Than Answers
  The Department of Health’s latest response on pelvic mesh removal leaves several important questions unanswered.
• Ulf Ulmsten inventor of TVT mesh slings signed a lucrative deal with J&J
  Swedish Professor Ulf Ulmsten developed the TVT (Tension-Free Vaginal Tape) procedure to treat stress urinary incontinence in the late 1990s. He received $25million from Johnson & Johnson for the invention and was later offered a further $400,000 if he could provide clinical trial evidence proving the procedure’s safety and effectiveness. The trial that launched millions of mesh implant procedures: did […]
• 
  World Patient Safety Day: Six years after First Do No Harm, women are still waiting for justice
  On World Patient Safety Day (17 September), Sling The Mesh is calling on the Government to implement two key recommendations from the landmark First Do No Harm review – compensation for women avoidably harmed by pelvic mesh and Sunshine legislation to improve transparency around industry payments in healthcare. Six years after Baroness Cumberlege’s review exposed systemic failures that harmed thousands […]
• 
  New hernia mesh study challenges claims that chronic pain is ‘just anxiety or depression’
  A newly published paper, “Chronic Postoperative Pain, Current Controversy on Inguinal Hernia, Expert Patient Perspective, Bioethics, and Global Health”, is a significant step forward in recognising chronic pain after hernia mesh surgery.
• 
  NEW STUDY: The mesh-fibromyalgia connection just got harder to ignore
  Mesh manufacturers insist their products are the gold standard treatment for incontinence, yet a new study from the Manchester Mesh Centre has found evidence that mesh-related injury may trigger central sensitisation, a biological process linked to widespread, persistent pain. R
• 
  The mesh sling timeline: warnings ignored, profits protected, women paid the price
  In 2003 doctors warned if TVT mesh slings caused unexpected complications and needed removing on a wide scale it would have significant impact on women and the NHS. Two decades later, specialist mesh centres are overwhelmed, waiting lists are growing, access to treatment depends heavily on postcode, and there is still no universally agreed method for safely removing mesh without […]
• 
  $88 million for American hernia mesh injured man. What about UK patients?
  A jury in the United States has ordered Medtronic’s Covidien division to pay $88 million to a couple after finding that surgeons were not adequately warned about risks linked to the company’s Symbotex hernia mesh.
• 
  High Court Judge criticises surgeon for ‘cherry-picking’ evidence in high value mesh case
  Oxford surgeon Simon Jackson has been criticised by a High Court judge for giving evidence that was “wholly unsatisfactory” “cherry-picking” and “lacked balance” when he acted as medical expert for an NHS Health board defending a high value mesh case.
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  The mesh operation that took my career, my hobbies and my independence
  I had a successful colposuspension in 2000 to treat bladder leaks, and it worked perfectly for 17 years. Colposuspension is the traditional surgical treatment for stress urinary incontinence and does not involve the use of mesh. In 2017 after surgery for a bladder and bowel prolapse, I was advised to have a TVT mesh sling inserted as my bladder leaks […]
• 
  Don’t hide 70% of the money! Government transparency plans leave most industry payments in the dark
  The Cumberlege Review called for a mandatory, enforceable transparency system which would force industry to log the millions it gives to the UK health sector every year – this money has been proven to bias research and prescribing.