THE GRIEVING son of a woman who died after implant surgery is to make a damages claim while saying a Scotland-wide mesh implant operation ban announced by the health secretary has come "far too late".
Eileen Baxter, 75, who died last month is believed to be the first in Scotland to have mesh implant surgery listed as an underlying cause.
Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said Scotland's health boards had been told yesterday to "immediately halt" the use of mesh implants in surgery in Scotland Multiple organ failure was said to have led to Mrs Baxter’s death, with sacrocolopexy mesh repair – an implant to fix a pelvic organ prolapse – noted as an underlying cause.
Her son Mark, 52, said he is now preparing a claim for damages over his mother's death and said the ban does not go far enough.
He believes the mesh itself should be banned, not just the procedure.
Mr Baxter from Peebles said if the Scottish Government had acted sooner his mother would still be alive.
Labour's Lothian MSP Neil Findlay, a prominent campaigner for a ban, said that the decision has come four years after major concerns were first raised at Holyrood.
Mr Baxter said: "I am pleased about what has happened. But we we will legally fight this because someone has to be responsible for the death.
"This ban should have come in years ago. I don't know how they have continued to use it.
"My mum would definitely have been still alive if there had been a ban. When we spoke to the doctors at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary they were so surprised that her bowel had ruptured. Asked if it would result in a damages claim he said: "Yes, 100 per cent. But I need to find out who is responsible."
He added: "To me it is all about the mesh not just the procedure. I am no medical expert but there should be a total ban on the mesh, not just the procedure. I feel that the mesh should be cleared from all the shelves of the NHS. It's the mesh that is causing the problem.
"This mesh goes hard, it goes brittle and it starts to affect the nerve endings, it cuts through organs such as the bladder, the bowel etc."
Hundreds of women in Scotland have suffered painful and debilitating complications from being given mesh implants, including infections, bleeding and even paralysis.
The use of mesh implants in NHS Scotland was suspended four years ago in all but exceptional circumstances.
But the following year it was found several health boards were still carrying out the operations. Critics say hundreds have been performed since then.
Ms Freeman said NHS boards had been told to halt the use of mesh in cases of pelvic organ prolapse and stress urinary incontinence.This will continue until a new "restricted use protocol" is drawn up.
Other mesh procedures, such as transabdominal mesh, will be kept under active review and will also be subject to "high vigilance procedures".
Labour's Lothian MSP Neil Findlay, a prominent campaigner for a ban, said the ban had been a "long time coming for survivors of mesh implants".
He added: "No-one should have lost their life, mobility or their future due to a procedure that was supposed to help them.
"The Scottish Government will now have to listen to the brave women who have experienced the consequences of mesh. Today is a victory for them."
Tory MSP Jackson Carlaw said there was still an opportunity for the government and parliament to apologise to women whose lives have been damaged by mesh.
Ms Freeman said the chief medical officer has continued to keep the issue under review and is listening to the women who have been affected of this.
She said: “I have asked the Chief Medical Officer to instruct Health Boards to immediately halt the use of transvaginal mesh altogether in cases of both pelvic organ prolapse and stress urinary incontinence, pending the implementation of a new restricted use protocol that will ensure procedures are carried out only in the most exceptional circumstances and subject to a robust process of approval and fully informed consent.
“The instruction to halt is, I believe, a proportionate measure whilst a rigorous, high vigilance restricted use ptotocol for any future practice is developed and put in place."
Holyrood’ public petitions committee had called for the use of mesh implants to stop, citing “serious concerns” over an independent review into their use.
That review concluded the procedure – used in the treatment of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and stress urinary incontinence (SUI) – must not be offered “routinely” to women with pelvic organ prolapse.
The review was announced by the Scottish Government in 2014, with health boards requested to stop the procedure until its conclusion.
It remains under suspension in NHS Scotland except in exceptional circumstances.
The review’s final report was branded a “whitewash” by some women who have suffered painful and debilitating complications from mesh, including campaigners Elaine Holmes and Olive McIlroy.
Professor Alison Britton was commissioned to conduct a review of the review, which is due to report later this year.
Mrs Baxter from Loanhead, died in hospital in Edinburgh last month.
She underwent mesh surgery five years ago. Her death certificate lists this as an antecedent cause of death that caused chronic pelvic inflammation and possible sepsis, leading to anterior rectal perforation and finally the multiple organ failure that ultimately resulted in her death.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: "Our condolences and sympathy remain with the family and friends of Ms Baxter.
"The health secretary has previously said she is happy to meet with Mr Baxter and we are currently working to arrange a suitable date."
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