The ongoing harm to patients undergoing
uro-gynaecological surgical mesh procedures has been
reported on for a decade in New Zealand. Serious concerns
have been raised about the significant injuries sustained.
Many lives have been destroyed but efforts by the Government
to reduce this harm have failed.
The fact that these
injuries can be so severe, that harm is continuing to occur,
and that it has now emerged that many surgeons are not even
collecting patient outcome data on these surgeries, has led
the Consumer Advocacy Alliance (CAA), Cartwright Collective
(CC), Auckland Women’s Health Council (AWHC), and the
Federation of Women’s Health Councils (FWHC) to come
together support Sally Walkers petition to suspend these
procedures.
Sue Claridge (AWHC) is adamant, “it is
now time for the Government to step up, and follow other
countries and do what they should have done years ago: put
patient safety first and implement a suspension once and for
all”
Sally Walker, a mesh injured woman, is one of a
number of women whose stories have been the subject of
articles in the New Zealand Herald ‘It’s All in Her
Head’ campaign. Walker recently submitted a petition
to Parliament which is urging the Government to take urgent
action to suspend vaginally-inserted mesh sling procedures.
Four years ago, these same procedures were suspended in the
UK, and permanently banned in Scotland.
Consumer
Advocacy Alliance spokesperson, Charlotte Korte is
disappointed with the recent statement from Associate Health
Minister Ayesha Verrall when she spoke to the New Zealand
Herald on 19.8.22. Verrall said the government has
“undertaken steps to ensure past wrongs are rectified,
including an apology by ACC, as well as changes to ACC’s
processes.”
Korte does not believe Ayesha Verrall’s
comment accurately describes the situation, asking “where
is the apology from the Government for allowing the harm to
continue? ACC have apologised, and yes there may be a few
more who have had their claim accepted, but the fight only
just begins once your claim has been accepted; in fact, it
is much harder now dealing with ACC than it ever was. How
does setting up mesh specialist centres help to rectify the
problem if you are still implanting mesh?”
Korte
says “although some women have had no issues with mesh, I
am in contact every day with New Zealander’s who have had
their lives utterly destroyed by these procedures, the harm
is significant and it is not just historical, it is recent.
Our most experienced surgeons who were already assessed
against Australian surgical mesh credentialing guidelines in
2018 have caused harm, and continue to do so. Alongside a
mesh suspension, the UK implemented high vigilance scrutiny
over non-mesh uro-gynaecological procedures. “Now that we
are seeing a rise in adverse events due to surgeons in New
Zealand not being trained in mesh free procedures, strict
monitoring is essential, we need to follow the UK’s
example”, says Korte
On several occasions the
Government has said they are taking the mesh issue
seriously, but this contradicts Health Minister Andrew
Little, who confirmed in a written
question that the Ministry of Health could not provide
any information on how many had been diagnosed with pelvic
mesh related complications in the last five years because
“historically it has not been reported to, or recorded by,
the Ministry of Health”. Little concludes “the time, and
the expense, of answering the Member’s question is not in
the public interest.”
Sandra Coney (CC) knows all
too well of the impact when such serious health issues have
not been addressed properly, the unprecedented Cartwright
Inquiry findings led to fundamental changes being made to
health consumers’ rights, including the right to informed
consent in law. Coney agrees “It is distressing to see
such significant harm still occurring. Clearly women are not
being warned of the risks and the Ministry of Health needs
to prohibit the insertion of mesh products in women’s
bodies. There is still inadequate regulation of medical
devices three decades after similar harm to women from
certain
IUDs.”
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