A meeting to end years of injustice. Victims of mutilations and disabling pain after the installation of vaginal implants gathered in a group of patients this Friday, December 8, met with representatives of gynecologists, who, for their part, ask for a “national plan” to better care for them.
“Some doctors, who have never seen these rare serious complications, are tempted to say that they do not exist,” laments Professor Michel Cosson, president of the “pelviperineology” commission of the National College of Obstetricians-Gynecologists of France (CNGOF). .
He called for “a national plan to structure care” for the victims, with a “list of multidisciplinary expert centers”, equipped with resources, to which these women will be systematically referred. It is also necessary to “better monitor” the posture, because the obligation to “practice regularly” is “confusing”, she considers.
broken lives
“We could concentrate the surgery in certain establishments, in very accustomed hands,” suggests Professor Xavier Deffieux, a gynecologist specialized in pelviperineology in Clamart (Ile-de-France) and member of the CNGOF.
Dozens of women recently testified in The Parisian, and nearly 800 victims are united in a support group on Facebook. They suffered from urinary incontinence or prolapse (organ prolapse) and underwent surgery, with the installation of a “suburethral sling” or a “pelvic reinforcement implant” made of polypropylene, developed since the 90s. They saw their lives destroyed by the side effects, they claim. say.
Complications, due in particular to a reaction of the body or poor posture, vary between urinary infections, injuries or chronic pain that prevents walking, sitting or having a sexual life. These devices are progressively incorporated into the tissues and their removal, which is difficult, can be mutilating.
Elimination of part of the devices.
In 2019, the authorities imposed a systematic certification by the High Health Authority (HAS), which led to the withdrawal of some of the devices. In 2021, about 33,000 were implemented, according to the National Agency for Drug Safety (Ansm).
Operated in Pau (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) in 2018, Anabela Neto denounces her “five years of medical wandering”, with painkillers, infiltrations or sessions with a psychiatrist.
“I spent a year in a wheelchair and I was about to commit suicide,” the patient confesses.
The 2020/2021 decrees require complete information about the patient before operating, the “multidisciplinarity” of the decision and the “regular” practice of the surgeon. But according to her, “they are not respected,” he accuses, asking “that the posturing stop.”
Dozens of complaints
80 women filed a complaint within the framework of a preliminary investigation opened in 2021 against “X” for aggravated deception and involuntary injuries, and they are beginning to be heard by investigators, according to Me Hélène Patte, one of the four lawyers seized.
Concentrating surgery in certain establishments “would be catastrophic in terms of access to healthcare”, considers Professor Xavier Gamé, president of the Professional College of Urology (CNPU). “We organize training, we carry out research” with a view to therapeutic alternatives, but today the benefit-risk ratio remains favorable, he says.
“Complications account for 2.9% of cases (according to studies questioned by the victims, ed.), but this suffering must be listened to” and treated quickly, declares Professor Xavier Gamé.
Source: BFM TV
