Woman's Hour

The Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review, also known as the Cumberlege review, is finally being published tomorrow after being delayed by Covid-19. It will focus on three health scandals that have severely affected women’s lives including vaginal mesh implants, an oral pregnancy test called Primodos, and an anti-epileptic drug called sodium valproate. The precise medical details between the cases differ, but what they all have in common is that women were given medical products that weren’t properly tested, and then weren’t believed when they complained of side effects further down the line. BBC Health Correspondent Anna Collinson talks about the background to the cases and the review, and Bonita Barrett discusses her experience of seeking help – and being ignored – when she went to her doctor in pain after being given a mesh implant without her consent. It’s 1957 and Jean