A new report says patients around the world are suffering pain and many have died as a result of faulty medical devices.
The investigation blames poor regulation, lax rules on testing and a lack of transparency - and some New Zealand patients say we lag behind the rest of the world.
The report into a $600 billion industry makes painful reading.
Written by 252 journalists from 36 countries, the report outlines how devices like pacemakers, artificial hips, breast implants and surgical mesh are inserted into people without clinical trial, often having disastrous consequences.
A 911 call reveals Bridget Robb's raw agony.
"I'm not ready to die," she can be heard screaming, with each shock of the defibrillator malfunctioning in her chest.
Dangers arise when manufacturers race to get ever-newer devices to market, slipping them past one country's regulator when another has said no.
New Zealand is particularly vulnerable when it comes to surgical mesh implants.
There's no regulation and no register, so it's hard to track who's been implanted with what and how big the problem is.
Charlotte Korte lives with constant pain after being implanted with surgical mesh eight years ago, and now advocates for hundreds of patients in the same or worse agony.
"Allowing devices to come onto the market that are not tested is not okay," she says.
"And devices that are implanted in people that have known problems at the moment - we cannot identify patients that have been implanted."
Surgeons also criticised device manufacturers for chasing profits by bringing out new products, even when the old ones worked better.
Medsafe is the authority responsible for medicines and the safety of medical devices here.
It has released a statement saying the concerns are not unique to New Zealand but hopes upcoming legislation will enable authorities to respond to safety concerns more effectively.
The reporters say they'll dig where governments won't by collecting information about faulty implants first-hand from patients around the world.
Newshub.
