NICE to recommend ban on vaginal mesh implants

Later this year, the health watchdog NICE will recommend that vaginal mesh operations are banned from treating organ prolapse, the BBC has discovered.

Reporting on its Victoria Derbyshire show, the BBC learned that NICE will recommend that mesh implants only be used for research purposes.

Mesh implants are made from polypropylene and are used to treat pelvic organ prolapse and incontinence following childbirth. The devices have been highly controversial and a high number of women across the globe have taken legal action against the device manufacturers.

Documents to be published in December by NICE will state that there are serious safety concerns regarding the mesh devices and that “evidence of long-term efficacy [for implants treating organ prolapse] is inadequate in quality and quantity”.

The report will also say that whilst most patients report satisfaction with the procedure, “complications can be serious and have life-changing consequences”.

The BBC spoke to an expert who said that the NHS is likely to take up the recommendation.

In October MPs met to discuss the possibility of an inquiry into the use of mesh devices to treat organ prolapse.

The debate was led by Labour MP Emma Hardy who first heard about the mesh implants from a constituent who was left unable to work after having the device fitted.

Calls to ban the devices were rejected by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health, Jackie Doyle-Price. Responding to the requests, Doyle-Price disregarded the need for a public inquiry and said that the issue was related to clinical practice instead of the devices themselves.