Women are suing the NHS over their vaginal mesh implants
Over 800 women are suing the NHS and device manufacturers after being left in permanent pain thanks to their vaginal mesh implants.
Certain implants have cut into women's vaginas, causing discomfort so severe that one sufferer was nearly driven to suicide.
Others have been left unable to walk, work or have sex.
The implants are intended to treat incontinence after childbirth and pelvic organ prolapse, which occurs when the bladder pushes against the vagina's walls.
Between April 2007 and March 2015, over 92,000 women had vaginal mesh implants fitted in England. Of which, around one in 11 have experienced problems, according to NHS data from the Hospital Episodes Statistics.
Over 800 women in the UK are suing the NHS due to the agonising pain caused by their vaginal mesh implants, fitted to treat incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse after birth
The protruding implants have also injured women's partners during sex.
Claire Cooper first experienced pain three years after her implant was fitted, the BBC reported.
Doctors diagnosed the source of discomfort as her womb, which was removed when she was 39.
When the pain continued, a GP even accused her of imagining it.
Claire Cooper planned to commit suicide after a GP suggested she was imagining the pain
Ms Cooper's pain was so severe she even planned to commit suicide, but chose to live for the sake of her children.
Her constant pain has forced her husband to become her carer.
She said: 'We haven't had sex for four-and-a-half years. This stuff breaks up marriages.
'I wouldn't at all be surprised if there are mesh-injured women that have taken their own lives and didn't know what the problem was.
'I want the procedure banned, I want the material banned.'
Kate Langley has been admitted to hospital 53 times to try and relieve the pain.
Yet, the mesh is too close to her nerve to be completely removed, leaving her with nerve damage.
Ms Langley was forced to give up her childminder business because the pain left her unable to look after the children.
Kate Langley has been admitted to hospital 53 times for the pain and is unable to work
Consultant urogynaecologist Dr Sohier Elneil has treated patients who have been immobilised by the pain.
She said: 'They become so incapacitated that many of them are either walking by crutches or sitting in wheelchairs and, perhaps more dramatically so, they become unable to look after their families.'
Many of the women fitted with the device claim they were never told of its potential dangers.
Around 100 types of vaginal mesh implants are available in the UK.
Consultant urogynaecologist Dr Sohier Elneil says she treats women suffering such severe pain that they are confined to a wheelchair and unable to look after their families
No model has been withdrawn to date.
The implants are made of a type of plastic commonly used in packaging and are manufactured by many different companies, including Johnson & Johnson.
A leaked email from Johnson & Johnson suggests it was aware of problems with one of its implants back in 2004.
The email said the company needed to start a 'major damage control offensive' because 'the competition will have a field day'.
The vaginal mesh implants have cut into some women's vaginas, causing severe discomfort
The manufacturer claims highlighting this email in isolation is 'extremely misleading'.
According to Carl Heneghan, professor of evidence based medicine, University of Oxford, manufacturers are simply required to demonstrate their implant is similar to an existing one on the market before it is made available on the NHS.
Yet, the Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency maintains vaginal mesh implants are safe and effective for the majority of women.
The meshes are prescribed on the NHS throughout the UK, although a recent Scottish review said they should not be routinely used for pelvic organ prolapse.
Professor Carl Heneghan claims manufacturers are simply required to show their vaginal mesh implants are similar to those on the market before they get made widely available on the NHS
If the women are successful in their legal case, the NHS compensation payout could be tens of millions of pounds.
Thousands of women have successfully sued manufacturers in the US, receiving payouts that total several billion dollars.
Johnson & Johnson's subsidiary, Ethicon, said it was 'vigorously defending litigation,' claiming it acted appropriately in the development of these devices, which have helped millions of women.