NICOLA Sturgeon has said there is no evidence of a “professional conspiracy” against an expert surgeon from the US helping women who have suffered painful and debilitating side effects from vaginal mesh surgery.
Speaking at First Minister’s questions, Tory leader Jackson Carlaw pressed the First Minister over what was being done to help those women.
Dr Dionysios Veronikis had planned to come to Scotland to treat those affected but cancelled his trip.
Carlaw said that was largely due to a "co-ordinated attempt to block him by powerful people in the NHS and the medical hierarchy".
READ MORE: Scottish Labour MSP thrown out of Scottish Parliament debate
He said: "The clear suspicion of many is that there is a professional and institutional campaign to frustrate Dr Veronikis's involvement.
“It is the view of many that establishment figures in the NHS are trying to protect their own backs and I exclude any blame or suggestion of it from the Cabinet Secretary personally here."
He added that leading Scottish mesh expert, Dr Wael Agur, had told him how "surgeons here felt deeply threatened by Dr Veronikis' offer to visit Scotland" and that "no doubt there is a professional conspiracy against his visit".
The Scottish Tory leader called on the First Minister to intervene, saying: "If this is true it is an outrage."
Sturgeon said she was "genuinely" not aware of evidence to back that up.
She said: "If there is evidence I would certainly want to see that and be in a position to take action."
READ MORE: FMQs: Nicola Sturgeon has her say on Glasgow Lord Provost
The First Minister also insisted the Scottish Government still wanted Dr Veroikis to come to Scotland to treat women here.
But she said a visit by Scottish medics to him in the US, that would be necessary for that to happen, "regrettably" had to be postponed.
Scottish doctors had been due to visit the American surgeon in August as part of the conditions necessary for him to be able to treat patients in the UK, but this was cancelled due to clinical commitments.
Responding to a question from Richard Leonard, Sturgeon apologised to anyone impacted by issues following treatment with the NHS.
The Scottish Labour leader then read from a letter from Dr Veronikis which claimed patients were being misled about the surgery they’ve had.
He added: "Dr Veronikis offered these women the first glimpse of hope that they might get their lives back.
"The fact is First Minister, the Cabinet Secretary for Health looked Scotland's mesh-injured women in the eye and she gave them a commitment to a course of action that could give some of these women their lives back.
"The world-leading, pioneering surgeon, who the Health Secretary invited to come here, now feels that the officials and senior surgeons in Scotland, working for our NHS accountable to your government, obstructed this course of action.
"And at the centre of all this are women left languishing in pain. So your government has lost the confidence of these mesh-injured women, your Health Secretary appears to have lost control of this situation."
Sturgeon conceded that there were issues that needed to be resolved and that the Scottish Government was “determined” to do so.
She added: "I want any patient who considers it best, where there is a clinical view for them to be treated by someone like Dr Veronikis, for that to happen.
"I obviously cannot stipulate that he agrees to come here but if he's willing to reconsider his position then the steps are in process to fulfil the requirements to allow that to happen."
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here