Doctor recorded Savita’s abortion request
Ms Halappanavar’s husband, Praveen, has repeatedly said that when his 17 weeks’ pregnant wife found out last October that she was miscarrying she said to medical staff: “No, I can’t take it. Please terminate.”
However, medical notes presented to Mr Halappanavar’s solicitor in the weeks after his wife’s death on Oct 28, failed to log requests for a medical termination, but did log requests for toast, tea, and an extra blanket.
Now it has emerged that in the first few days after she was admitted to Galway University Hospital and when it became clear the pregnancy was not viable, the consultant obstetrician treating the 31-year-old recorded her request for an abortion.
It is understood the request was not complied with for legal reasons as it was felt that, at that point, Ms Halappanavar’s life was not at substantial risk.
It is unclear why this note was not contained in the initial notes presented to the Halappanavars’ solicitor, Gerard O’Donnell.
Revelations, reported on RTÉ News last night, that the senior doctor’s notes on the request exists, come ahead of today’s opening of the inquest into Ms Halappanavar’s death.
Today is only expected to be a preliminary hearing, with the full inquest likely to be held in March.
Mr O’Donnell said: “[News of the notes] is certainly significant. I have always maintained and my client has maintained that what he has said would be proven to be correct and I believe that will be the case.
“He [Praveen] always took the view that the request that his late wife had made was a very serious request.
“It may well be that such a request would have saved her life and he found it extremely peculiar that it was not documented.”
Mr O’Donnell told RTÉ’s Prime Time programme Mr Halappanavar had endured a difficult day yesterday because he had had to go through close to 50 statements of medical personnel who treated or were involved in his wife’s care during her days in the hospital.
“It was one thing looking at medical notes and abbreviations and maybe not understanding them,” he said. “It is a totally different thing when you start to read statements of all the personnel involved. So it was quite upsetting for him.”
The hospital said it would not be commenting at this time.
Two separate investigations are ongoing into Ms Halappanavar’s treatment at the Galway hospital prior to her death. She had been admitted to the hospital on Oct 21 suffering from back pain. An autopsy found she died of septicaemia.
The HSE expects its report to be completed early this year. A separate investigation is also being carried out by the Health Information Quality Authority.
Ms Halappanavar’s death, along with a European Court of Human Rights judgment on the issue, re-opened the debate on whether abortion should be legalised where the life of the mother is at risk.
