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THE family of Savita Halappanavar are "shocked and upset" that they were not provided with a copy of a draft report into her death.
Praveen Halappanavar had previously requested sight of the report in order to respond to any inaccuracies that it might contain.
However, despite circulating the report to medical staff involved in the case, a copy of the report was not forthcoming to Mr Halappanavar, who remained by his wife's side throughout her ordeal.
"We were expecting to see sight of the report last week in order to address any inaccuracies either in writing or through a meeting with the chairman but that did not happen. Neither myself nor Praveen have seen sight of the report," said Mr Halappanavar's solicitor Gerard O'Donnell.
Mr O'Donnell said his client had been left "shocked and hugely disappointed" that he was not supplied with a draft report when all others involved in the case were.
"He's finding the entire incident very traumatic. It's brought a lot back for him. He's too emotional to comment at the moment but it has been very hard for him," he added.
Hurt
And he also said that the news had been greeted with shock by Savita's family in India.
They were hurt that the draft report into their daughter's death was not provided to the family, despite being circulated to a number of hospital staff.
"Savita's family in India have heard of developments through the media today, they and Praveen are very upset that they weren't informed," said Mr O'Donnell.
Mr Halappanavar was only contacted by the HSE last week asking him to consider meeting the chairman of the inquiry, Prof Sabaratnam Arulkumaran, to discuss the report.
"I consulted with my client and decided we needed sight of the report first in order to respond to any inaccuracies and that then we would consider a meeting.
That was the response we were sending. But then we were very disappointed to see the report had already been distributed.
Difficult
"This is a very difficult time for Praveen. We would have hoped that out of respect for him that he would have been contacted and provided with a draft of the report. Instead he had to hear about it in the media which was very distressing for him," added Mr O'Donnell.
The Galway solicitor has now written to the Department of Health expressing his client's unhappiness with the way the situation has been handled.
"I sent them a letter this morning. We are very unhappy with how this has been handled. We want immediate sight of the report now.
"I'm awaiting a reply from the department," said Mr O'Donnell.
He added that he believed the draft report supported the claims made by his client.
"We have always stated that Praveen's version of events would all be borne out. From the snippets of the report I have heard that proves to be the case," he added.
Irish Independent
