Revealed: Two doctors on mesh safetyreview team linked to makers of controversial devices
By
Marion Scott Daily Record (UK) FiDA highlight
HEALTH Secretary Alex Neil under
fire after victims claim the government
probe into mesh implants is being rigged to give operations the
all-clear.
Health
Secretary Alex Neil
TWO doctors
on the government team reviewing the safety of mesh implants have links to the
makers of devices used in the controversial surgery.
The
appointments have fuelled concern of campaigners that the review has been
weighted to support the continued use of the procedures, which have left women
around the world crippled and led to multi-million-pound compensation payments.
Ash Monga and Karen Guerrero have been paid by
Ethicon, the makers of a mesh product called Gynecare.
Dr Monga
described himself as a “consultant for Gynecare” in a 2009 medical research
paper.
Dr
Guerrero, a surgeon at Glasgow’s Victoria Infirmary, received “educational
sponsorships” – including payments and travel costs – from Ethicon and another
major mesh manufacturer called Bard.
Dr Karen
Guerrero
He won
plaudits in June after apparently suspending mesh procedures when Hear Our
Voice campaigners, supported by the Sunday Mail, gave evidence to reveal how
they have been left in crippling agony by mesh, used to treat prolapse and
bladder problems.
At the
time, Neil said: “I’m proud Scotland has taken this stance and I believe we are
leading the way on what is a significant global problem.”
But we revealed the anger of campaigners last
week after discovering government medical advisers wrote to hospitals within
weeks of Neil’s announcement to say the suspension was voluntary and encouraged
them to use mesh on patients as part of clinical trials.
Yesterday,
politicians and campaigners raised new concerns about the appointments to the
review body to establish if there are any conflicts of interest.
Scottish
Labour’s shadow health secretary Neil Findlay said: “It is outrageous that,
after taking over a year to reach a decision on mesh implants, the Health
Secretary has appointed doctors to the review who might appear to have a vested
interest.
“Those
affected have been through far too much in the past few years and this latest
development is simply inexcusable.”
Mesh
product
Olive
McIlroy, of Scottish Mesh Survivors, said: “We are dismayed that people
appointed to carry out this vital review have such links to the manufacturers
who profit from the use of these devices.
“Alex Neil promised victims would be at the very
heart of the independent review but it feels very much like we are lone voices
pitted against the country’s most powerful mesh supporters.”
Ethicon, a
subsidiary of Johnson
& Johnson, have twice had their TVT-O device declared as “defective”
by a US court.
It has also
emerged that Gibraltar-born Guerrero was among 23 signatories backing an
objection to Neil’s suspension of mesh use in the NHS in June.
Dr Guerrero
backed the call made by Aberdeen-based urology consultant Mohamed Abdel-Fattah
asking for mesh trials to be exempted.
Abdel-Fattah,
who has also received “travel sponsorship” from Ethicon, was supported by two
other members of the review group, Professor Charis Glazener and consultant
urologist Voula Granitsiotis.
Ethicon’s
Lucinda Macari said: “Ethicon, in conjunction with the Association of British
Healthcare Industries, are supporting efforts by the Scottish Independent
Review to gather full and accurate information about pelvic mesh products.”
The Scottish Government said: “This must be an entirely independent
review and will be completed as such.”
By
Marion Scott Daily Record (UK)
MARTHA Salazar's case in Dallas,
Texas – the second major victory for mesh victims in America within days –
prompts new calls for criminal inquiry in Scotland.
Campaigner
Elaine Holmes in the Scottish Parliament.
AN American
mesh patient has been awarded £60million compensation by a US court.
Martha Salazar won the huge
payout after the court in Dallas, Texas, heard that the Obtryx implant made by Boston Scientific was
defective.
They jury
was also told that the manufacturers had failed to properly test the device on
humans.
It was the
second major victory for mesh victims in the States within days.
Earlier
this month, Jo Huskey
was awarded damages totalling £3million by a West Virginia court for pain and
suffering caused by a TVT-O mesh
implant made by Johnson & Johnson firm
Ethicon.
Both these
mesh devices were given to Scottish women on the NHS before the procedures were
suspended pending safety reviews after an outcry by mesh victims.
The US
payouts have led to politicians and victims calling for the Scottish Government
to sue manufacturers and launch a criminal probe.
Labour’s
shadow health secretary Neil Findlay said: “These cases are proof, if any
further evidence is needed given the hundreds of women injured here, that the mesh scandal is shaping up to be a very big issue for Scotland’s
NHS.
“It’s high
time the Scottish Government challenged the manufacturers over the catastrophic health problems
these devices have inflicted on so many women.
“If there’s evidence of clinic data and trial
evidence being deliberately withheld, criminal action should be considered.”
Elaine Holmes,
of Scottish Mesh Survivors, added: “A car manufacturer who did this would face
a criminal investigation and lengthy jail sentences. It should be the same for
mesh manufacturers.”
Lawyer
Cameron Fyfe, who is acting for over 400 women involved in the biggest-ever medical legal
action in Scotland, said: “Potential damages in
Scotland would be a
fraction of those in the US but we expect to have similar success.”
Gareth Easton
Scottish
Health Secretary Alex Neil
Health Secretary
Alex Neil suspended mesh operations in March pending an independent
safety review.
It followed
a Sunday Mail campaign which exposed the hidden agony of hundreds of women
given mesh implants to treat incontinence and bladder problems.
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