Savita Halappanavar - A tragedy that was preventable

Medical aspects surrounding the death of Savita Halappanavar at Galway University Hospital on Oct 28 are currently being investigated.

It may therefore be premature to come to a definitive judgment, but what seems undeniable is that this is a tragedy which should have been preventable. Most people are deeply upset at what happened, and our profound sympathies go out to the young woman’s family. But all these expressions of sympathy and regret must sound particularly hollow at this stage.

Savita Halappanavar, 31, a dentist, was admitted to Galway University Hospital on Oct 21 in agonising pain. She was 17 weeks’ pregnant and was miscarrying her baby. At the outset, she was told the foetus would not survive and that it would all be over in a matter of hours. But her immediate agony lasted for three days.