Following years of horror stories and even deaths, a report into vaginal mesh implants has recommended the devices “should only be used as a last resort.”
The Senate Community Affairs References Inquiry began investigating the implants, which have been used to treat prolapse or incontinence women since the 1990s, after hundreds of Australian women complained to the senate of suffering debilitating pain and serious infections.
Senator Derryn Hinch says the report’s findings were far worse than they had been expecting, finding that 10,000 to 15,000 people incurred serious side effects and that in some cases, women were not properly informed about these potentially serious side effects.
“I believe it was one of the biggest medical scandals Australian women have ever been subjected to and there are still a lot of questions to be answered, ” he told the ABC. “Thousands of women were deformed.”
The report made 13 recommendations including mandatory reporting of adverse effects on women and better training for doctors and surgeons, SBS reports.
“My life has been impacted in every way. I am in constant pain, so I cannot do what I used to do, and I must lie down horizontally every hour or so because the pain becomes unbearable,” Stella Channing said in a submission received by the Parliament of Australia.
“I have experienced bleeding, constant bowel and urination pain, and insomnia every night; I cannot sleep because I am in so much pain. I have always been very active, going to gym, walking, cycling, but everything is very limited now. Every movement hurts. I used to be sexually active prior to this, but now I absolutely cannot. It’s just pain, pain, and more pain to merely exist.”
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