Row Continues Over Savita Death Inquiry

A stand-off has developed between the Irish government and Praveen Halappanavar, over what form an inquiry into his wife Savita's death after a miscarriage at a Galway hospital should take.

Mr Halappanavar says his wife repeatedly requested a termination of her doomed pregnancy but was told by consultants that they could not remove the foetus while a heartbeat existed.

"This is a Catholic country," Mr Halappanavar alleges he was told.

Savita died from septicaemia a week after going into the hospital.

Mr Halapannavar said that the medical records from the hospital do not contain any reference to the abortion requests.

"They have all the other information including requests for tea and toast and for an extra blanket, all of that is in the notes, but the important information about requesting the termination is not," said Praveen.

Mr Halapannavar wants an open public inquiry, funded by the government, where witnesses can be called under oath and cross-examined.

He believes anything short of that will not get to the truth, and he says she does not trust the HSE to carry out an inquiry because his wife died under their care.

A clinical review launched by the HSE is continuing, but three consultants from Galway hospital who were appointed to it have stepped aside after Mr Halapannavar expressed his dissatisfaction.

Mr Halappanavar has said he will not co-operate with the inquiry and turned down appeals from the Taoiseach to meet with the inquiry's chairman.

The Health Information and Quality Authority has been asked by the HSE to carry out its own independent investigation of the circumstances surrounding Savita's death.

But Mr Halappanavar is refusing to co-operate with their inquiry either.

President Michael D Higgins took the unusual step of commenting on the case during a visit to England last week.

"I said it's very important that the investigation be such as satisfies the genuine concern of the Irish people and that helps reduce the grief for Savita's husband and her family," he said.

The Irish president is a symbolic role that does not usually get involved in controversial political matters.

The intervention heaped the pressure on the government, which is reluctant to go down the route of a full public inquiry, because history in Ireland shows they result in long and expensive tribunals where legal teams make a lot of money, but answers are not found quickly.

The key questions in the case include the cause of Savita's death, and whether, as her husband believes, she would be alive today if doctors had carried out a termination.