The husband and family of the late Savita Halappanavar are distraught that details of the report into her death were leaked to newspapers before they were given access to them.
Praveen Halappanavar told the Irish Times in a statement that he is in shock at the manner in which he has been treated.
The 31-year-old said he was ‘not in a condition’ to respond to the leaks from the HSE’s report into his wife’s death after her request for an abortion at a Galway hospital was turned down.
Halappanavar also said that Savita’s family in India were ‘highly distraught’ that the preliminary findings had been leaked to the media before they had been briefed on its contents.
He told the Irish Times: “I’m not in a condition to make any statement. The family is shocked about the report being leaked.”
Family solicitor Gerard O’Donnell told the paper that his client was as upset as he had been in the days after his wife’s death.
O’Donnell said: “I saw him in the days after she died and he is in the same frame of mind. He’s very down, distressed and very upset.
“He just feels he and Savita have been very badly treated again, that this simply should not have happened and that he and Savita’s family have been treated with total disrespect all the way through.
“Here he is listening to the report into his wife’s death being bandied about on the public airwaves and he hadn’t even had a chance to look at it.”
The lawyer also confirmed that he has yet to hear anything from the Health Service Authority after the draft report was leaked to the Evening Herald newspaper.
“I have not heard from anyone in the executive. And they have my mobile number.”
Galway based consultant Dr CVR Prasad, a close friend of Praveen Halappanavar, also told the Irish Times at his shock that the draft report was leaked.
Dr Prasad said: “Just yesterday I had an email from Gerry O’Donnell telling me the report would be published at the end of the month, then I hear all this on the news.
“The draft does vindicate everything we have said. From studying her medical notes, any final-year medical student would have known she should have had an abortion. Treatment was not just delayed.
“It was denied. The pregnancy should have been terminated and Savita would have been with us today.”
Savita Halappanavar died at Galway University Hospital last October. She was 17 weeks pregnant when she presented at the hospital a week earlier with severe back pain and was found to be miscarrying.
Her repeated requests for an abortion were turned down by the hospital, allegedly on legal grounds.
O’Donnell has reiterated to the Irish Times that there was no record of Ms Halappanavar’s request for a termination in the medical notes.
He said: “That is what we have always said and that remains the case.
Dr Prasad also told the paper that there was no record of her request for an abortion in the medical notes which he said he knew ‘off by heart at this stage’.
He added; “This is significant as it underlines how Savita’s wishes were totally ignored.
6 Comments
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.stanJames | Feb 16, 2013, 08:34 PM EST
Just another example of how the church protects life - putting a guaranteed to be dead proto-child ahead of the life of the mother .............RATZInger is going to be gone soon but with the ultra - uber conservative cardinals he appointed, dont expect any changes.......the church also opposes stem cell research, claiming it destroys life...........If thats true they why should we send real people - soldiers to die to protect others.? Let gods will reign ......Of course the church also protected sex starved power hungry priests and no one knows how many of the children were driven to suicide...............Fortunately the church is all but dead in Ireland, France and England are well on their way to having marriage equality under civil law for their gay and lesbian citizens. Our whole extended family of about 43 people except for a couple of 90 year olds has left the church. Good riddance to it, protect your children.
anglo-norman | Feb 14, 2013, 08:45 PM EST
What that poor girl suffered in her last hours
eiriamach | Feb 14, 2013, 08:05 PM EST
Of course she requested an abortion, and if the request does not even appear in the records, the hospital has a serious problem. She was knowledgeable about infections, she had medical training, she knew she could die if MDs did not take aggressive action to save her, and she surely knew her miscarriage was irreversible -- no one could save the fetus. At any public hospital in any developed nation in the world, abortion of a 17-week miscarried fetus is standard emergency procedure. Delaying it invites infections. Delaying the procedure past the appearance of symptoms of infection is the same as deciding to let her die. Stopping the news leaks can't save this scenario.
EamonnDublin | Feb 14, 2013, 11:17 AM EST
So, as I posted when the tragedy occurred, those knocking the Catholic church should wait for the report. From my current information, the tragedy had nothing to do with the tenets of the church. Apologies, anybody? Anybody...............? No? Oh, I see, it's all about abuse - not about the facts! Éamonn, Dublin, Ireland.
Eireannach | Feb 14, 2013, 11:03 AM EST
An example of 'media led' hysteria with no consideration for the fallout. This woman sadly lost her life to a relatively common toxic condition.. Apparently there was no request for 'an abortion'. The media should stay out until they get their facts straight.
Towngate | Feb 14, 2013, 09:22 AM EST
Something fishey and not ringing true about all this .... lets wait for the proper report.