The husband of a 42-year-old Co Limerick woman, who died after undergoing cosmetic surgery in New York, said yesterday it could be two months before the results of an autopsy become available.
Kay Cregan, of Skagh, Croom, died on St Patrick's Day, three days after she had minor facial surgery at a New York clinic.
She underwent the surgery on March 14th and the following day developed complications. She was transferred to a general hospital in Manhattan where she was pronounced dead on March 17th.
Mrs Cregan, the mother of two young sons, underwent surgery while on a short visit to her sister in the US.
Liam Cregan rushed to New York on learning complications had set in and was with his wife when she was pronounced dead last Thursday in St Luke's Roosevelt Hospital, Manhattan. Mrs Cregan's sisters, Mary and Agnes, were also at her bedside.
In a statement yesterday Mr Cregan said: "Kay's death came as you can imagine as a tremendous shock to our entire family. We are now trying to come to terms with it."
The precise cause of death is not yet known.
"The results of the autopsy report will not be available to us for six to eight weeks," her husband said.
"All we can say is that Kay had her operation in a clinic in New York on March 14th and suffered complications the following day," he added.
An investigation into her death is under way.
Mrs Cregan worked in the rates department of Limerick City Council and was looking forward to her elder son's first communion in May. Brian is aged eight and Eoghan is six.
Her death has led to warnings that there are risks attached to all surgery, even minor procedures.
President of the British Association of Plastic Surgeons and a consultant plastic surgeon to Dublin's Mater Hospital Michael Earley said he didn't know what had happened in Mrs Cregan's case and could only comment in a general way.
"The dangers of cosmetic surgery are well known. The primary ones always have to do with the airways and keeping the patient breathing."
There were always risks when a patient underwent general anaesthetics and local anaesthetics with sedation.
People should not be afraid to undergo cosmetic surgery as long as they attended reputable clinics or hospitals, he added.
Deaths as a result of cosmetic surgery were rare. "There was none I know of in Ireland in the last year," he said.
The Department of Health said people availing of cosmetic or other services, whether in this country or abroad, should seek the services of reputable institutions - preferably on the advice or recommendation of their GP in the first instance.
The president of the Irish Medical Council, Dr John Hillery, said that for every procedure there was a risk and some procedures were more risky than others.
Last November he warned the public about the dangers of attending cosmetic surgery clinics in the Republic that did not have recognised surgeons in residence.
There had been instances of surgeons flying in and out of the State and not being available to provide follow-up care if patients needed it.
The Limerick city council rates department remained closed on Tuesday so that staff could attend Mrs Cregan's funeral.
"Kay was extremely popular among all of her colleagues. The whole thing is just such an awful shock and no one knows for sure the exact details of what happened," one colleague said.
The parish priest in Croom, Fr Joseph Kennedy, said he could not begin to describe the sadness felt locally following the young mother's tragic death.
"We are deeply saddened and words of mine could not express the sadness of the family and indeed the community," he said.
"The loss of a young mother in these tragic circumstances is so so difficult to bear," Fr Kennedy added.