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Access-to-Justice-Barriers-for-People-Harmed-by-Mesh-the-urgent-need-for-change

28 January 2023

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Access-to-Justice-Barriers-for-People-Harmed-by-Mesh-the-urgent-need-for-change

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Mesh implants are used in operations to treat incontinence, prolapse, hernia, rectopexy and some mastectomy repairs after breast cancer.

✨ Thank you to everyone who has started following

✨ Thank you to everyone who has started following since we were featured by @maze.docs 💙

Did you know? Surgical mesh is a polypropylene plastic medical device used to strengthen weakened tissue during procedures for:
🔹 Bladder leaks (stress incontinence)
🔹 Pelvic organ prolapse
🔹 Hernias
🔹 Breast surgeries, including post-mastectomy reconstruction and some cosmetic procedures

📚 Want to learn more? Visit our website via the link in our bio 🔗

💬 Keep asking questions, sharing your experiences, and joining the conversation. We're here to help and raise awareness. ❤️

#slingthemesh #patientsafety #firstdonoharm #sui #pop #hernia #menopause #childbirth #womenshealth #menshealth

🩺🥼In our latest blog we look at the cost of mesh r

🩺🥼In our latest blog we look at the cost of mesh removals and ask this important question. Do surgeons follow a recognised national mesh removal training programme so there are not variations in care across the nine specialist mesh centres?

The answer would appear to be no.

📌2021 to 2025 there were 234 full mesh removals and 185 partial mesh removals.

📌That represents a total of 419 mesh removal procedures.

📌The average mesh removal in 2026 is £16,000.

📌Based on that, mesh removal has cost the NHS more than £6.7 million in 5 years.

📌That does not include additional costs of pain management, mental health support, ongoing medication, follow-up care, or repeat treatments. It also excludes the wider economic impact, including the cost to the benefits system when women have been forced to leave work or reduce their hours due to mesh-related complications.

➡️➡️ Head to our website and visit the blog section to read the story in full.

#slingthemessh #pelvicmesh #meshremoval #patientsafety #firstdonoharm

😱 More medical gaslighting and #medicalmisogyny fr

😱 More medical gaslighting and #medicalmisogyny from our Dismissive Files. Real things said to members of our support group by health care 'professionals'.

➡️ Scroll right to see more.

Medical gaslighting and #medicalmisogyny has been

Medical gaslighting and #medicalmisogyny has been a hallmark of the mesh scandal for decades with outrageous comments made by healthcare professionals to our members.

Here are just some of the comments posted into the support group. Shared with permission.

➡️ Scroll right to see more.

#slingthemesh #firstdonoharm

💔 Our thoughts are with the family and friends of

💔 Our thoughts are with the family and friends of French actor/ director Arnaud Dennis who could no longer with live with the unbearable pain and autoimmune diseases following hernia mesh surgery in 2023.

The 43 year old likened his life to being in the terminal phase of cancer.

He died today in a Belgium euthanasia clinic.

Arnaud became a passionate advocate for the hernia mesh community. We chatted in messages over the last year and he was determined to raise awareness and leave a lasting legacy.

Rest in peace Arnaud.

#hernia #mesh #patientsafety

😱Here are more of the shocking comments doctors ha

😱Here are more of the shocking comments doctors have said to our members.

We're sharing them for World Patient Safety Day because dismissing, belittling, or gaslighting patients is not just poor practice. It is a patient safety issue.

The impact of medical gaslighting includes frustration, confusion, an appalling impact on mental health, worsening conditions and avoidable suffering.

Sadly we see it al too often on #slingthemesh

#medicalmisogyny #medicalgaslighting #firstdonoharm #patientsafety

⚠️💔 Coming up in Part 2 of our Medical Gaslighting

⚠️💔 Coming up in Part 2 of our Medical Gaslighting series: more real comments reported by #SlingTheMesh members.

More gaslighting. More humiliation. More women being made to doubt their own suffering. Part 2 includes comments such as this:

⚠️ Unable to walk because of severe pelvic pain, a woman turned to her surgeon for help. His response?

"Anatomically, you look lovely."

This and more are in our second video, created for World Patient Safety Day. Hear what women were told when they sought help.

#medicalgasllighting #medicalmisogyny #patientsafety #firstdonoharm

🥼🩺 😱 Over the next 3 days, we'll be sharing some o

🥼🩺 😱 Over the next 3 days, we'll be sharing some of the worst examples of medical gaslighting reported by our members for #WorldPatientSafetyDay Some of the comments are outrageous.

🥼When doctors gaslight, conditions get left untreated. Sadly, too many mesh injured patients are told their pain is stress, their symptoms are anxiety, it's blamed on old health issues or told they're overreacting.

📌The result? Delayed diagnoses and patients left questioning themselves instead of getting answers.

📌 That's medical gaslighting. And it's a #patientsafety issue. Patient safety isn't just about preventing mistakes. It's also about listening. Being heard is part of safe care.

#slingthemesh #firstdonoharm @sharonhodgsonmp @mumsnet #medicalmisogyny #medicalgaslighting

🗣️🗣️ NEW HERNIA MESH PAPER: A new peer-reviewed sc

🗣️🗣️ NEW HERNIA MESH PAPER: A new peer-reviewed scientific paper recognises something we have been saying for years: Patients are part of the evidence. Lived experience matters.

For too long, people reporting chronic pain after hernia mesh surgery have been dismissed, ignored, or told their symptoms are psychological and probably due to anxiety or depression.

This paper from France acknowledges the importance of listening to expert patients who live with the consequences every day - and how their stories should be part of the evidence base used to calculate risk vs benefit.

The paper also raises serious questions about underreporting.

More than 200,000 inguinal hernia repairs are performed annually in France, yet fewer than 30 serious adverse events per year were officially recorded between 2020 and 2024.

The paper highlights what we have been saying for years - there is a black hole of missing data.

To read the full paper head to the blog section of our website.

#slingthemesh #hernia #mesh #inguinal #patientsafety #firstdonoharm

❤️💙 Our second question this week was raised in Pa

❤️💙 Our second question this week was raised in Parliament thanks to MP Sharon Hodgson, co-chair of the First Do No Harm All Party Parliamentary Group.

Next Thursday it’s World Patient Safety Day and in the light of this, Sharon called for a debate asking when will the government commit to compensation as outlined in the Hughes report.

Women have had their concerns and dismissed for too long, Sharon said.

The minister has committed to finding out and giving a reply ❤️

💙❤️ Grateful to MP Sharon Hodgson for continuing t

💙❤️ Grateful to MP Sharon Hodgson for continuing to put pressure on the government for compensation for women harmed by Pelvic Mesh and Sodium Valproate.

Parliament is sitting again after summer recess so

Parliament is sitting again after summer recess so it’s back to work on the campaign in London.

Today focusing on redress, Sunshine Legislation and standardised pathways of care at the mesh centres

#slingthemesh #mesh #firstdonoharm #patientsafety

❤️💛September marks Sepsis Awareness Month. Sadly m

❤️💛September marks Sepsis Awareness Month. Sadly more than half of women with #pelvicmesh suffer ongoing UTIs and we know far too many in the group who have had sepsis.

That's why we’re supporting @uksepsistrust to raise awareness in our community.

Sepsis is a life-threatening emergency that can affect anyone, but is often treatable if caught early.

Sepsis is the body’s life-threatening reaction to an infection that claims over 48,000 lives every year in the UK.

If someone with an infection is getting worse instead of better – and something feels seriously wrong - trust your instincts and act quickly.

Sepsis can kill within hours. A simple question could save a life. Just Ask: "Could it be Sepsis?"

Visit the UK Sepsis Trust website for information.

#sepsis #sepsisawarenessmonth #uti #marthasrule

📢📚 A new study by the Manchester Mesh Centre team

📢📚 A new study by the Manchester Mesh Centre team shows growing evidence that mesh may be linked to fibromyalgia.

📌 We hope this new study will add weight to the mesh / fibromyalgia connection so that women are taken seriously.

Our admin team managed to have fibromyalgia added to the NICE mesh complications patient decision aid - but in spite of that, women still have their fibro symptoms dismissed or treated as unrelated.

The Manchester research found evidence that mesh-related injury may trigger central sensitisation, a biological process linked to widespread, persistent pain including fibromyalgia and endometriosis.

Researchers studied 280 women and found that more than half (52%) had co-existing conditions including #fibromyalgia #chronicbackpain and #ibs

Read our latest blog on the #slingthemesh website to find out more. And let us know what you think in the comments ⬇️⬇️

#patientsafety #firstdonoharm #chronicpain #pelvicmesh

📅 2020 - Baroness Julia Cumberlege called for grea

📅 2020 - Baroness Julia Cumberlege called for greater transparency on the secret millions given from industry to the healthcare sector in her landmark First Do No Harm review thanks to our advocacy at #slingthemesh.

📅 2023 - The Government held a public consultation.

📅 2026 - Sling The Mesh attended 4 Department of Health workshops on transparency of payments as a result of the consultation. ⚠️ There was heavy push back from industry.

📅 Autumn 2026 - The Health Secretary will be presented with options to make a decision on the future of transparency reporting.

❌ There's currently only voluntary reporting of pharma payments. Nothing for the medical device sector.

❌ 70% of research payments are reported as lump sums, making meaningful scrutiny impossible.

❌ Industry is fiercely lobbying to preserve a failed voluntary system that has not delivered meaningful transparency.

🚨 Patients deserve full transparency on industry funding to doctors, hospitals, researchers, surgeon societies and lobby groups to restore trust and accountability in medicine.

SunshineLegislation #SlingTheMesh #MedicalDevices #PatientVoice #HiddenInPlainSight #firstdonoharm #patientsafety @joerogan

⚠️ 🚑 In 2000 and 2003 doctors warned in two separa

⚠️ 🚑 In 2000 and 2003 doctors warned in two separate published reports that TVT mesh slings lacked long term evidence. They cautioned that widespread removals could have serious consequences for women and the NHS.

🥲The warnings were ignored and that tragic prophecy is now being played out in mesh removal centres across the UK with a significant impact on women's physical, emotional and financial health.

➡️ Read my latest blog on the Sling The Mesh website to find out the full upsetting details of warnings ignnored in one of the biggest women's health scandals of our generation.

#slingthemesh #mesh #pelvicmesh #vaginalmesh #sui #bladderleaks #stressurinaryincontinence #childbirth #tvt #tvto #pelvicfloor @andy.burnham @womeninwestminster

💰👨‍⚖️Hernia mesh update. A jury in the United Stat

💰👨‍⚖️Hernia mesh update. A jury in the United States has ordered Covidien (part of Medtronic) to pay $88 million in the first major trial testing hundreds of similar hernia mesh claims.

The jury found that doctors were not adequately warned about the risks of Symbotex #hernia #mesh

👨‍⚖️The judge overseeing the case said there was sufficient evidence that the company may have knowingly failed to warn physicians about how quickly the collagen barrier degraded.

🤔But what does this mean for patients in the rest of the world?

⚖️💙There needs to be a fairer system so that, if people are harmed by healthcare products, they can access justice, accountability and compensation more easily, without having to endure stressful, lengthy court proceedings to secure the redress they deserve.

To read more about this story head to the blog section of our website.

#slingthemesh #firstdonoharm #fullyinformedconsent #medtronic

❤️💙Thank you @safersurgeryuk for inviting me to sp

❤️💙Thank you @safersurgeryuk for inviting me to speak at your annual conference to represent the voices of the mesh injured community.

The presentation, Empathy, Patient Voice and Lessons from Sling The Mesh, explored the critical role of empathy, kindness and active listening in healthcare - highlighting how empathy is not merely a desirable quality but a fundamental patient safety issue that can improve trust, communication and clinical outcomes.

For many members of the mesh-injured community, avoidable harm has been compounded by years of being dismissed, disbelieved or gaslit.

Our message to healthcare professionals is simple: believe us, listen without judgement, acknowledge lived experience, and treat every patient with dignity, compassion and respect.

Sometimes the greatest difference a clinician can make is ensuring a patient feels heard.

#AfPP #firstdonoharm #surgicalmesh #mesh

👨‍⚖️Rogue ex lawyer Darren Hanison formerly of For

👨‍⚖️Rogue ex lawyer Darren Hanison formerly of Fortitude Law has been ordered to pay £92,000 and indemnity costs after a judge found he seriously abused the court’s process.

📖📕Read the full story in the Law Society Gazette online. We are extremely grateful to journalist John Hyde, who has continued to report on these cases and shine a light on behaviour that has caused significant distress to already vulnerable women. His reporting has ensured that these women have been heard and that this deeply troubling and entirely unacceptable conduct has not gone unnoticed.

🔖Hanison was on record to represent six women who brought #vaginalmesh claims against the NHS, as part of a larger group of 305 claimants linked to the proceedings.

Hanison failed to lodge the papers ahead of a hearing in 2022 which caused it to be relisted.

Hanison’s firm, Fortitude Law, was shut down by the Solicitors Regulation Authority in 2023 over his suspected dishonesty.

In February this year he was struck off by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal after facing 17 allegations including dishonesty, misleading clients, poor service and serious regulatory breaches.

😢💔The real story here though is not about a struck-off solicitor. It's about the women who were failed.

Many of these women had already endured years of pain, life-changing injuries, repeated dismissal and the trauma associated with pelvic mesh implants.

Seeking legal help was supposed to be a path towards accountability. Instead, they found themselves represented by a solicitor who was later struck off following findings including dishonesty, misleading clients, poor service and serious regulatory breaches.

Absolutely unforgivable.

#slingthemesh #darrenhanison #firstdonoharm #patientsafety #lawsociety

🚨 Did you know? Many women with bladder leaks neve

🚨 Did you know? Many women with bladder leaks never needed mesh surgery in the first place. Thousands have been harmed when they could have opted for physio or traditional non-mesh surgeries - except most women were never told this.

😱 This video shows a polypropylene mesh sling up close, including its giant implanting hooks.

🔖These devices were used to treat stress urinary incontinence / bladder leaks from the late 90s, but in 2018 their use was suspended across the UK by Baroness Julia Cumberlege due to concerns about the scale of irreversible, avoidable and unacceptable harm.

The mesh slings may well have fixed the leaks - but they can cause complications far worse than the original problem they set out to fix, including:
Chronic pain
Constant UTIs
Loss of sex life due to pain
Slicing through vaginal walls
Slicing into nearby organs
Autoimmune diseases

#slingthemesh #firstdonoharm #patientsafety #tvt #tvto #tot #incontinence #bladderleaks

☀️What is Sunshine Legislation and why do we need

☀️What is Sunshine Legislation and why do we need it now?

📚Patients have a right to know about financial relationships between doctors and the pharmaceutical and medical device industries.

💰Also, patients and the wider public / media / MPs / regulators have a right to know how much money is being given to researchers, hospitals, health charities, surgeon societies and political lobby groups.

💡For years, transparency has relied on voluntary disclosure. But voluntary systems leave gaps, and patients deserve better.

🔖The good news? Progress is being made. Following four workshops with the Department of Health and Social Care which #slingthemesh attended, proposals are being developed for the new Health Secretary Yvette Cooper to improve transparency around industry payments in healthcare.

🔖Now we need your help.

🔖 Baroness Cumberlege's landmark #firstdonoharm review called for mandatory transparency measures. A Sunshine-style law would help ensure payments are openly declared, creating a system that is more transparent, accountable, and trustworthy for everyone.

📧 Please email your MP and ask them to write to Health Secretary Yvette Cooper in support of mandatory Sunshine-style legislation. The more MPs who raise this issue, the harder it becomes to ignore.

🔎Transparency builds trust. Patients deserve transparency. Let's make it happen.

#SunshineLegislation #PatientSafety #HealthcareTransparency #MedTech #Pharma #Transparency #Healthcare #PatientVoice #CumberlegeReview #UKPolitics

@joeroganexperience

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