A number of women who believe their wombs were unnecessarily removed by the former Drogheda obstetrician Michael Neary have decided to make formal complaints to the Garda Síochána.
Their decision follows advice to the effect that gardaí cannot investigate what happened to them without receiving formal complaints and statements from those affected.
Gardaí were given a copy of the Medical Council's Fitness to Practice inquiry into Dr Neary after it found him guilty of professional misconduct and struck him off the medical register in 2003 for unnecessarily removing the wombs of 10 women.
However, Patient Focus, the group representing affected women, said this was not sufficient for the Garda to mount an investigation. Complaints from individuals were required.
Fidelma Geraghty, from the Naul in north Dublin, who underwent a Caesarean hysterectomy and also had her ovaries removed by Dr Neary after she gave birth to a baby at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda in 1997, said yesterday she plans to make a complaint alleging criminal assault by Dr Neary when she contacts gardaí on Monday.
She said a number of other women planned to do likewise. It is understood the complaints will be channelled through the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
The news comes as an inquiry - set up by the Government into how so many Caesarean hysterectomies were performed in the maternity unit at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital over a 30-year period without this being picked up, commented upon or investigated - reaches its conclusion.
The inquiry, which was also asked to inquire into how patient files went missing from the hospital, is chaired by Judge Maureen Harding Clark.