This is a case, passed completely unnoticed in the eyes of the general public, which resurfaced thanks to two surveys published today by the magazines Elle and L'Obs .

These reveal that the Prolift vaginal prosthesis, indicated for pelvic prolapse, an organ descent generally caused by childbirth, has for several years been the subject of thousands of complaints and class actions in Australia, United Kingdom, Scotland, United States and Netherlands.

The system, marketed since 2005 by Johnson & Johnson, is accused of causing serious injuries sometimes disabling.

A prosthesis that causes organ perforations and vaginal inflammations

The Profilt prosthesis is "a net made of plastic mesh, attached to ligaments and inserted vaginally, which supports organs as a hammock could do," says L'Obs.

Invented by a team of French doctors, it was supposed to revolutionize the management of organ descents. However, it is the cause of perforations of the rectum, bladder, inflammatory reactions, incontinence or necrosis in many women around the world.

Very painful, which for a long time have not been taken into consideration by the medical profession as evidenced by a victim in the magazine Elle: "The specialists she consults (gynecologists, rheumatologists ...) believe that this story is' in "Very depressed, I thought of putting an end to my life," she says.

Indeed, "the body refusing this foreign material, the vaginal tissues retract around, try to encapsulate it, to reduce it into a ball (...) Under the pressure, (the vaginal walls) can tear, migrate, perforate the bladder, uterus, intestines and attach to organs such as chewing gum ... ".

Prolift prohibited in France since 2013

In 2012, the United States banned it definitively and several lawsuits allowed women to be compensated. France, meanwhile, has not marketed it since 2013, without any complaints being filed. A situation that is explained by the fact that the French victims would have been better accompanied by the surgeons and that recommendations of the High Authority of Health (HAS) would have dissuaded inexperienced surgeons to pose it according to our colleagues.

As outrageous as the whole case itself, during the Australian trial that took place in July 2017, an exchange of private mail "after the introduction of Prolift on the market," says L'Obs, read in front of the The assembly revealed the knowledge of the danger represented by their product by its inventors. At the time, one of them "wonders if it is normal that he has, for the moment, no desire to put this prosthesis to his wife."

This is further proof that there is still a lot of progress to be made regarding women's health, and listening to their pain (s), as evidenced by the current heated debate on obstetric and gynecological violence and the turmoil caused by Essure Implants case, Mirena IUD and 3rd and 4th generation pills.

> Are you a victim or know someone close to you who has had complications after a Polift prosthesis? Tell us your story at [email protected] and [email protected].