Savita's husband to initiate medical negligence proceedings

London, July 7: The husband of Indian dentist Savita Halappanavar, who died last year in Irealnd after being denied abortion, plans to initiate medical negligence proceedings in the High Court there against the Galway University Hospital.

There were multiple grounds to initiate medical negligence proceedings including, "failing to treat, failing to diagnose, failing to chart, failing to do tests, failing to follow up blood tests, failures at every level", Praveen Halappanavar's solicitor Gerard O'Donnell told The Irish Times.

Halappanavar's claim will be for injuries, distress and for the loss of his wife. O'Donnell said the question of whether the case would go to court depends on whether the Health Safety Executive (HSE) and the hospital contest the claim.

An HSE investigation had found multiple failures in 31-year-old Savita's care but her husband is dissatisfied with the report because it does not answer why his wife was not treated and why she was allowed to become so seriously infected.

Meanwhile, Halappanavar has spoken about abusive letters he received soon after the death of his wife. He said he was hurt by the contents of the letters by anti-abortion campaigners asking him to go back to India.

"Basically, I was told to leave the country. I was told to clean the mess that our country [India] has, rather than cleaning the mess here and to leave stuff for them to clean and mind my own business. It's hurting," he told Irish state broadcaster RTE in an interview this week.

Savita died at Galway University Hospital last October as a result of septicemia and subsequent medical reviews found deficiencies in the care provided to her.

An inquest into her death was also told that the Savita, originally from Karnataka, may have survived as a result of a timely abortion once she was found to be miscarrying.

Ireland's complex anti-abortion laws have since been at the forefront of a worldwide debate and the Irish government is set to push through key reforms by next week after winning a major vote in Parliament for its Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill.

PTI