Women left waiting for share of $405m implant payout
More than 1000 women injured from defective pelvic mesh implants await assessment for compensation, two years after mammoth settlements were reached.
Meant to assist women with prolapses and leakage, the flawed products routinely caused chronic pain, incontinence, and pain during sexual intercourse.
Device makers Johnson & Johnson, Ethicon and Boston Scientific agreed to pay $405 million in compensation in settlements approved by the Federal Court in late 2022 and early 2023.
But the court was told on Thursday 1020 women were yet to be assessed for compensation two years on.
Blame has been laid on difficulties obtaining the medical records necessary to complete the assessments.
"An enormous amount of work has been done, but there are stragglers," the administrators' lawyer Guy Donnellan told the court on Thursday.
Medical records for the women assessed come from various practices and are not connected to doctors who administered the vaginal mesh and tape implants, the court was told.
Since the settlements, just $25 million has been paid out to more than 6000 women deemed eligible by administrators, Mr Donnellan told Justice Michael Lee.
Women who receive this first interim payment will be eligible for further compensation in future.
About 15,000 women who received implants from Ethicon have been assessed with 1000 remaining, while some 20 of the 2698 women who received Boston Scientific implants were still waiting.
A small group of women have been deemed ineligible for compensation, he said.
Thursday's hearing incidentally came on International Mesh Awareness Day, recognising women and some men who were affected by the implants across decades.
Hundreds of South Australians injured by the implants were issued with a formal government apology on Wednesday night.
"I am sorry for the pain, embarrassment, and gaslighting you have endured," Health Minister Chris Picton said.
"For the times you questioned your own experiences and were dismissed by those who were meant to care for you."
Mr Picton said the government would continue to educate doctors and improve services for those seeking care to ensure it would not happen again.
The compensation pool is being administered by a trio of firms - BDO, JGA Saddler and Slater and Gordon.
Shine Lawyers ran the class actions, understood at the time to be the largest ever legal win of its type, but were prevented from managing the settlement distribution scheme.
When appointed in 2023, the settlement firms said they expected it could take 30 to 36 months to complete.
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