What’s it like to live with a vaginal mesh?

What can we learn from the shameful story of vaginal mesh? That thousands of women have been irreversibly harmed; that implants were approved on the flimsiest of evidence; that surgeons weren’t adequately trained and patients weren’t properly informed; that the dash for mesh, fuelled by its manufacturers, stopped the development of alternatives; that surgeons failed to set up mesh registries that would have identified complications sooner; and that the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence and the UK regulators let them off the hook. The BMJ has a published an investigation into vaginal mesh, which charts some of the issues above. In this podcast The BMJ talked to three women who have had a vaginal mesh implanted, and all suffered the negative consequences that have prompted these investigations. We bring you these stories to underline how life altering the situation has been for these woman, and to highlight the need for fully informed consent before anyone else has a mesh implanted. What we must learn from mesh: https://www.bmj.com/content/363/bmj.k4254