“COURAGEOUS” campaigners Elaine Holmes and Olive McIlroy have been hailed by MSPs as a Holyrood committee urges action over mesh implants.
The women, who suffered severe complications after undergoing mesh procedures, petitioned the Scottish Parliament on behalf of other patients left with pain and mobility problems.
The petition was lodged in April 2014 for the Scottish Mesh Survivors group’s Hear Our Voice campaign.
Today the Public Petitions Committee is calling on the SNP administration to stop the use of mesh procedures over “serious concerns” about the final report of an independent review into the use of mesh.
It concluded the implants must not be offered “routinely” to women with pelvic organ prolapse.
But Holmes, McIlroy and other women branded the inquiry a “whitewash” and a review of those findings is due to report later this year.
Now the cross-party committee has criticised the continued use of the procedure despite the request for a moratorium.
The paper records “serious concerns” about the credibility, transparency and independence of the process so far, and warned of the potential for the final report to be used “to justify the lifting of bans on mesh in other jurisdictions” such as England and Northern Ireland.
Committee convener Johann Lamont said: “I am grateful to the petitioners, Elaine Holmes and Olive McIlroy, for bringing forward this petition and I commend their courage and commitment in the face of their trauma. Seeing and hearing the experiences of the many women we have heard from during our consideration of this petition was incredibly emotional, with the physical and mental impact plain to see.
“One of the most important things to come out of this report was the extent to which women were not believed when they were highlighting their concerns to the medical profession, ultimately resulting in there being no record of their concerns. Now that we have published this report, we urge the Scottish Government to respond to our recommendations and the concerns of women.”
Deputy convener Angus MacDonald said the committee expects a “positive response” from the Scottish Government.
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