23-07-2025
Mum who blames mesh implant for crippling pain blasts Government for continued use
Mum who blames mesh implant for crippling pain blasts Government for continued use
Roseanna Clarkin is one of a number of women who blame mesh products for life-changing complications.
Roseanna Clarkin; Surgical Mesh campaigner from Clydebank.
A mum who blames a controversial plastic implant for her crippling pain has blasted the Scottish Government for continuing to use the products.
Roseanna Clarkin is one of a number of women who blame mesh products for life-changing complications.
In her case, it was used to treat an umbilical hernia in 2015.
Roseanna Clarkin said: 'Vaginal mesh is banned but mesh is still used for other procedures. Ultimately it's the same mesh. There has to be an alternative.'
Three years later, while the Scottish Government banned the use of trans vaginal mesh products, surgical mesh is still used for other procedures.
Studies suggest five to 20 per cent of hernia operations result in mesh failure. A study in the British Medical Journal, said the rate could be 12 to 30 per cent.
Campaigners have been calling for an independent review and patients including Roseanna want a ban on all surgical mesh and fixation devices.
Roseanna, 41, of Clydebank, said: 'Vaginal mesh is banned but mesh is still used for other procedures. Ultimately, it's the same mesh that can cause the same problems.'
Health Secretary Humza Yousaf has refused campaigners' call for an independent review into the use of mesh in all surgical procedures
In 2023, then First Minister Humza Yousaf said to suspend the use of hernia mesh would leave some people with limited or no treatment options.
Last year, Roseanna was diagnosed with a rectocele – a prolapse of the wall between the rectum and vagina – but was shocked doctors wanted to use mesh.
She said: 'I was outraged. Mesh has caused devastating effects to my life and body. There was no way I was having any more.' From the late 90s to 2018, women in Scotland were treated with polypropylene mesh implants for stress urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse.
For some, it caused pain and life-changing side-effects. Affected patients can travel to England and the US for mesh removal surgery, funded by NHS Scotland and Scottish Government.
Campaign group Sling the Mesh accused governments of 'dragging their feet' five years after the review. The group's Kath Sansom said: 'Traditional surgical repairs without mesh, and high-quality pelvic floor physiotherapy, should always be the first line of treatment for bladder leaks, prolapse and some bowel conditions.'
The Scottish Government said it takes the concerns raised seriously and commissioned two reviews of hernia mesh use.
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It added the reviews 'recommended the continued availability of surgical mesh as an option for repair of hernias, while stressing the importance of informed consent and the availability of alternative treatments where appropriate'.
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