HEALTH Minister Shona Robison has come under pressure to address the Scottish Parliament after an expert at the centre of a review group looking at the safety of mesh implants resigned.
The unnamed consultant quit the independent panel following the revelation that an entire chapter of the final report, due to be published soon, had been removed.
The decision to step down followed the resignation patient representatives Olive McIlroy and Elaine Holmes earlier this month amid claims the final report had been watered down.
The resignations come after public health expert Dr Lesley Wilkie, the chair of the review group, stood down in December.
Transvaginal mesh implants can be used to treat women suffering from prolapse and bladder problems, but an independent review was ordered in 2014 after some patients suffering from painful complications lobbied Holyrood.
The then health secretary Alex Neil asked health boards to suspend the use of the implants after a campaign by women who have suffered serious side effects.
A final report is expected shortly, but Labour MSP Neil Findlay warned that it is in danger of being seen as a whitewash following the resignations.
He said: “Shona Robison must update Parliament on this urgently. The SNP government cannot stand by as this report becomes a whitewash.
"The mesh scandal is a global scandal but in Scotland we had the chance to lead the world in protecting women from life changing injuries but instead of doing so the Government stands by as the review draft is rewritten and all the while more and more people lodge damages claims against our NHS.
“We need a statement to Holyrood on this as soon as possible, SNP ministers should be less focused on dividing Scotland and more focused on governing focused.”
There are more than 400 women currently taking legal action against Scottish health boards and manufacturers as a result of mesh implant surgery.
However, hundreds of mesh implant operations have been carried out since ministers called for them to be suspended.
After resigning from the review group, Elaine Holmes, from East Renfrewshire, said she had seen a draft of the final report and it was like "night and day" when compared to the previous interim study.
She said: "We looked at one chapter and it was completely biased. It would speak of the benefits of mesh but not the risks.
"For the non-mesh equivalent, which is called colposuspension, it would talk about the risk but not the benefits. It was just so biased it was unbelievable."
Olive McIlroy added: "The colposuspension non-mesh procedures have been going on since the sixties. We are just trying to get at the truth and they don't want the real truth to come out.
"There is no litigation with them, there is no campaign of patients who have been severely adversely injured through the procedure.
"Alarm bells are ringing all over the world. It's not just us and it's not just here.
"We are not trying to sensationalise or make a point, we are just trying to get at the truth and they don't want the real truth to come out."
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