Shameful scrutiny of a vulnerable victim

IT is bad enough that cervical cancer sufferer Vicky Phelan was dragged through the legal system at all.

There was never any question that she was the victim in all of this. It all began when her smear test results were incorrectly analysed in Texas. To add insult to injury, there was a three-year delay between the mistake being discovered and Mrs Phelan getting to hear about it.

As if it weren’t disgraceful enough that she had to go to court in those circumstances, though, her experience in the witness box only added to the nightmare. In her case against the HSE and the Texas laboratory, Mrs Phelan had to deal with intimate questions from lawyers about her sex life, marriage and how her illness has affected her emotionally and mentally.

Speaking on RTÉ Radio yesterday, the mother of two said she was ‘really angry’ at having to ‘go up there and plead my case’. She also spoke of concerns her husband could have faced a similar ordeal.

Even if Mrs Phelan weren’t dealing with a terminal illness, it would be easy to understand her anger. It hardly needs saying not only was she not accused of anything, she was actually the injured party in the case.

Meanwhile, it is extremely difficult to justify such an intrusive line of questioning in a set of civil proceedings that clearly involved deeply sensitive issues.

One of the many issues raised is how victims are treated in cases like this. At the very least, it seems clear that there should a review into whether the sort of very personal questions put to Vicky Phelan should be heard in open court at all.

Unless that changes, it is highly likely that other women who find themselves in the same unfortunate situation will be reluctant to seek redress.