Continence association advocates for stricter standards

The National Association for Continence (NAFC) is calling for stricter health care standards for patients with pelvic floor dysfunction, including incontinence and prolapse in women.

"We have far too much experimentation on women in everyday practice, without evidence or direction of what is best for particular cases," said Nancy Muller, the NAFC’s executive director. "Women often report when contacting NAFC for guidance that they feel bewildered by the options presented to them by their doctors.

"We need both additional innovation and clinical research to deliver an improvement in surgical outcomes with the duration that women deserve, while reducing the risks of adverse events," Muller said during a Fort Lauderdale, FL conference of Truth In Medicine, where male and female patients assembled to discuss complications from their surgeries involving synthetic mesh implants.

Among Truth In Medicine’s goals is an improved informed consent process between patient and physician in which risks and potential benefits can be openly and fully discussed. Truth in Medicine played a role in convincing the FDA to issue a public health notification in 2008 to warn the public about adverse events from the transvaginal placement of surgical mesh.