Savita Halappanavar died due to medical misadventure, inquest finds Savita Halappanavar died from sepsis after suffering a miscarriage in Galway last autumn. Photograph: Irish Times/PA An Indian dentist who was denied an emergency abortion at an Irish hospital last autumn died due to medical misadventure, her inquest has found. A jury sitting in Galway reached a unanimous verdict in the case of Savita Halappanavar, 31, who died from sepsis after suffering a miscarriage. The jury endorsed nine recommendations of the coroner, Dr Ciaran MacLoughlin. Offering his sincere condolences to Halappanavar's widower, Praveen, MacLoughlin said: "You showed tremendous loyalty and love to your wife. All of Ireland followed the case. Halappanavar had been 17 weeks pregnant before she died on 28 October at Galway University hospital. Her plight became the focus of an international outcry over Ireland's strict anti-abortion laws, which the current government plans to reform. The first of MacLoughlin's recommendations was that the Irish Medical Council should lay out exactly when doctors can intervene to save the life of a mother. The coroner said this would provide clarity for patients and doctors. The jury also endorsed recommendations that blood samples should always be followed up to guard against errors; that proper sepsis management training and guidelines should be available for hospital staff; and that there should be effective communication between staff on call and those on duty in hospitals. MacLoughlin recommended that a dedicated time should be set aside at the end of each shift for this to happen. He said each hospital in the state should have a protocol for sepsis management; modified early-warning score charts should be introduced in all hospitals as soon as possible; and there should be effective communication between patients and relatives to ensure clarity over treatment plans. The final two recommendations were that medical and nursing notes should be kept separately and that no additions should made to notes where the death of a person will be subject to an inquest.