Mesh victim says ‘shameless’ Scottish government has a duty to pay out

Five years after a major inquiry recommended compensation for the destroyed lives of mesh victims, women are threatening action against the “shameless” Scottish Government.

Psychiatric nurse Marian Kenny, 65, from Clydebank is just one of hundreds of women who had to quit their career and spend the rest of their lives on benefits after life-changing injuries caused by mesh.

The catastrophic use of plastic mesh implants came when NHS Scotland decided to “save” £200 per patient compared to traditional surgery methods used to treat bladder issues following childbirth.

But while victims in the US received court settlements of millions of dollars, only a handful of Scottish women have received payouts, which were tiny in comparison.

Marian said: “These implants may have saved NHS Scotland a few pennies but they destroyed our lives, leaving us living in agony and having to give up our jobs and our futures.

“All these years later, women like me are facing mounting health problems, dependent on benefits and facing the rest of our lives worrying about money because our pensions were destroyed after having to give up work.

“I am one of hundreds of women who didn’t even get a penny of the meagre court settlements that were awarded against mesh manufacturers by the Scottish courts because the US firm which manufactured the mesh I was given went into bankruptcy.

“I’m not alone in this, and it is galling that after being assured by the NHS that we were receiving ‘gold standard treatment’ that we now face a bleak future financially as well as living in agony.”

Campaign group Scottish Mesh Survivors fiercely fought a 15-year battle over the dangers of mesh.

Scotland became the first country in the world to withdraw the use of the most dangerous mesh implants, sparking similar action in other countries.

But despite a UK inquiry headed by Baroness Cumberlege five years ago recommending compensation for mesh victims, not a single penny has been paid.

Marian said: “The Scottish Government have had years to do the right thing, but they have not raised a finger to do so. Their behaviour throughout has been shameless.

“It was NHS Scotland which implanted these dangerous mesh devices into thousands of unsuspecting women, not NHS England.

“We believe the Scottish Government have a duty now to compensate us for what they have already recognised as being one of the worst medical scandals of modern times.

“If they want to reclaim the UK Government, that is up to them. But in the meantime, victims here are desperate and the Scottish Government’s lack of action is shameful.”

Conservative MSP Jackson Carlaw, who fought alongside the women, agrees. He said: “It’s long past the time that Scotland’s mesh women deserve both the recognition and compensation due. Both Labour at Westminster and the SNP at Holyrood need to cut the flannel and pay out.”

Calling it a “disgrace”, Carlaw added: “All these years after this scandal unfolded, why are too many women who suffered at the hands of unscrupulous manufacturers, blinkered clinicians and an indifferent bureaucracy still waiting for the compensation they are due?”

The Scottish Government said it took note of comments by Patient Safety Commissioner for England Dr Henrietta Hughes, in which she encouraged the UK Government to respond to her February 2024 report about the offering of redress to women harmed by mesh. It called on the UK Government to confirm whether it will look to manufacturers to help fund a redress scheme.