“Torture device”: Derryn Hinch says vaginal mesh recipients were “kept in the dark”
Victorian Senator Derryn Hinch has made a passionate plea at the senate inquiry into the use of vaginal mesh to treat urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse, which has left thousands of women with life-changing physical damage and pain.
After the senate committee made the recommendation that vaginal mesh only be used as a last resort and only with fully informed consent, tabling a report with 13 suggested changes to its use, senators from all sides of politics agreed that such a devastating medical scandal can never happen again.
“Many women who have had transvaginal mesh implants have had devastating complications resulting in ongoing emotional trauma, embarrassment, shame, depression, debilitating pain, recurring infection and a poor quality of life,” Greens senator and committee chair, Rachel Siewert, said.
Senator Hinch said the committee had heard from many women who felt they had been let down by the Therapeutic Goods Administration.
“Having first been told there’s only a one per cent chance of an adverse reaction, they have since been treated like mushrooms,” the Human Headline said.
“Kept in the dark and fed bulls*** by doctors, hospital administrators, the drug companies and sadly even the TGA.”
He described the tragedy as “the biggest medical scandal for Australian women since thalidomide in the 1950s and 1960s, when kids were born without arms and legs.”
Senator Hinch said people affected by this “torture device” deserve justice. “This should never have happened. We need to fix it. We need to be providing support for these women.”