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Ethicon Media Monitoring 10/8/2018
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Auckland woman dead after two years of pain from surgical mesh
Oct 7, 2018 | Stuff.co.nz
By Cate Broughton
The death of a 27-year-old woman following a mesh implant surgery is under investigation by the Coroner. -
Campaigner calls for ban on pelvic mesh implants as safety review hearing heads for Cambridge
Oct 6, 2018 | Cambridge Independent
By Alex Spencer
A woman leading the campaign to ban pelvic mesh implants because of the complications they may cause is urging patients to speak out at a government review.
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Auckland woman dead after two years of pain from surgical mesh
Oct 7, 2018 | Stuff.co.nz
By Cate Broughton
The death of a 27-year-old woman following a mesh implant surgery is under investigation by the Coroner.
In early 2013, Auckland mother of three Sarah Collis had surgery to treat pelvic organ prolapse and stress urinary incontinence caused by severe tearing from child birth.
Her husband Dave Collis said his wife suffered constant and excruciating pain for over two years after the surgery at the Manakau SuperClinic.
"She was on 40-odd pills a day. It got to the point where it affected her mental health."
Regular "flare ups" required hospitalisation where she was given morphine and the anesthetic sedative Ketamine.
Sarah was forced to abandon her midwifery studies. She became severely depressed, attempted suicide and was admitted to Tiaho Mai, a mental health unit for two and a half weeks.
Dave said his wife often felt her torment was not being taken seriously by medical professionals who believed she was exaggerating.
Her surgeon and hospital nurses said the mesh was the most likely cause of the pain but it was impossible to remove , Dave Collis said.
Doctors disagreed with each other about medications and doses with prescriptions changing at each appointment.
In 2015 Dave said Sarah was happier after a few months out of hospital and a trip to Australia. But the respite was short lived. Another flare up in pain put her back in hospital in early May. She was discharged after a few days but the sudden deterioration rocked her confidence.
At midday on May 18 she rang her husband to say she was going to bed after being diagnosed with tonsilitis that morning.
Dave found Sarah asleep and snoring loudly when he arrived home with the couple's three sons.
Later, when he came to bed the room was silent and he found his wife dead.
"I knew straight away that was it."
The Coroner is investigating Sarah's death. A spokeswoman said no decision had been made on a hearing date or if an inquest would be held.
A spokeswoman for Counties Manakau District Health Board said they could not comment on Sarah's treatment and surgery while a Coroner's investigation was underway.
Dave told the couple's children who were aged three, five and seven years old, their mother had died.
He blames mesh for his wife's death and said patients needed to be given other options for the procedures.
"What I put it down to was the years of taking 40 pills a day, it got too much. Her body decided it had enough.
That all stemmed from the mesh because she was fine before the operation."
In December last year Medsafe acted to stop all imports of mesh devices for pelvic organ prolapse after an Australian review found there was not enough evidence to support their use.
A mesh device, the mid-urethral sling continues to be used for stress urinary incontinence in New Zealand. In July the UK government suspended use of the device in public hospitals temporarily until better safeguards were in place.
Sarah's sister Rebecca Staples said she did not want anyone else to endure the pain Sarah and her family went through.
The family believed the mesh procedure had caused Sarah's death and hoped the Coroner's investigation would confirm this.
"If they find the surgical mesh was the cause ..surely that can't be ignored by the Government, by the medical system.If they find this stuff has killed someone...I would expect they can't continue using it willy nilly, like it's a low risk procedure if it has literally killed somebody."
Patricia Sullivan from support group Mesh Down Under said the Coroner needed to determine the role of mesh in Sarah's death.
"If you have something that is causing that much pain that cannot be brought under control, where someone attempts to take their life, that needs to be investigated."
https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/107558622/Auckland-woman-dead-after-two-years-of-pain-from-surgical-mesh
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Campaigner calls for ban on pelvic mesh implants as safety review hearing heads for Cambridge
Oct 6, 2018 | Cambridge Independent
By Alex Spencer
A woman leading the campaign to ban pelvic mesh implants because of the complications they may cause is urging patients to speak out at a government review.
Cambridgeshire campaigner Kath Sansom wants women who believe their lives have been changed beyond repair by an operation performed to treat prolapse and incontinence to come forward.
They will have a chance to tell their stories at the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review hearing, led by Baroness Cumberledge, which will be in Cambridge on Monday, October 15.
Ms Sansom, of the Sling The Mesh campaign group, said: “The pain this procedure can cause is indescribable.
“I’ve been in contact with women in Cambridgeshire who are suffering serious complications from pelvic mesh implants. This procedure was promoted as a ‘quick fix’ for urinary stress incontinence and prolapse – but the plastic can twist, shrink, go brittle and degrade inside the body.
“It can attach and slice through organs causing chronic pain, sepsis, loss of sex life and, for some women, they need to have their bladder or bowel removed. Women contact our group daily feeling suicidal from the pain pelvic mesh implants have caused them.
“If you, or a loved one, have been experiencing complications following the procedure then I urge you to share your story with Baroness Cumberledge and the government’s independent review.”
Ms Sansom has suffered complications from the operation herself which have left her in daily agony. “I really hope women will go along and tell their stories so the review hears about the problems they have endured.
“I would also urge anyone who has suffered prolapse or incontinence, often caused by having large babies, to try physiotherapy before they have surgery as it can help in 80 percent of cases.”
The hearing is at the Homerton Conference Centre between 1pm and 3pm on October 15.
http://www.cambridgeindependent.co.uk/news/health/campaigner-calls-for-ban-on-pelvic-mesh-implants-as-safety-review-hearing-heads-for-cambridge-1-5726007
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