NEWS
10 January 2017
A victim of one of Australia’s worst health scandals wrote a furious letter on December 23 to the then federal Health Minister Sussan Ley on behalf of thousands of other victims, that ended with the line: “It’s our morals versus yours. What’s it going to be, minister?”
15 July 2016
If you want to understand why "tainted blood" campaigner Charles MacKenzie is still fighting for the Australian government to act on the Senate inquiry's very limited recommendations, you need only look at the Turner Freeman submission.
12 July 2016
Charles MacKenzie has fought governments, health bureaucrats and blood providers for years, after up to 20,000 Australians knowingly received "tainted blood" in the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s. He is campaigning for the apology the Australian Government committed to in 2005.
BRITISH TAINTED BLOOD INQUIRY LEADS TO CALL FOR NEW AUSTRALIAN INVESTIGATION
25 September 2018
In the early years of the disease’s rise to prominence, as many as 20,000 Australians were infected through no fault of their own, acquiring the virus through transfusions of contaminated blood or blood products.
24 September 2018
“I expect a lot to come out in the UK inquiry but I’ve had my hopes dashed too many times here in Australia. I just hope the evidence is strong and compelling enough to force some of these people in government in Australia to actually look at the issue here. I’ve been reduced to prayer, really. I pray that we finally get justice here.”
15 February 2018
A campaign is being launched for a judicial inquiry into the scandal, with victims claiming governments were aware at the time of the risk of tainted blood and failed to inform them — or didn't do proper screening when tests were available.
14 February 2018
Jay Franklin was three when he had a blood transfusion, 18 when he discovered by chance that it infected him with hepatitis C, and 40 when he died in October waiting for a federal government apology to “tainted blood” victims that never came.
15 July 2017
It was the birthday gift of a lifetime for Charles MacKenzie, when embattled United Kingdom Prime Minister Theresa May ordered an inquiry on Tuesday into the "tainted blood" scandal.
MEDIA ARCHIVES
HEALTH CHIEFS VETOED ALERT ON BAD BLOOD
12 June 2004
A Federal Government body ruled out blanket public warnings about hepatitis C in donated blood 13 years ago - and since then thousands of people have learned they are infected with the virus.
RED CROSS APOLOGISES FOR HEPATITIS IN BLOOD
5 June 2004
The Australian Red Cross Blood Service has apologised for the first time to victims of tainted blood, saying it is "very sorry" for what happened.
WE WERE GIVEN HOPE, AND WE GOT NOTHING
20 June 2005
"You get the impression that the whole thing was more for the benefit of politicians than for victims or the community at large," says Charles MacKenzie, the president of the Independent Blood Council and one of the investigators of an inquiry held last year into how the deadly hepatitis C virus made its way into the blood supply.
POLICE CALLED IN TO RED CROSS
24 February 2003
The Australian Red Cross Blood Service may face a criminal investigation after allegations that it breached state laws.
WHY INFECTED DONORS' BLOOD WAS GIVEN TO PATIENTS
15 May 2003
Blood infected with the potentially deadly hepatitis C virus was used for almost three years in medical products used by thousands of hospital patients and hemophiliacs, a Federal Government inquiry has found.
TAINTED BLOOD
1 July 2002
The Herald has learnt that dozens of people with hepatitis C, like Pollack, were actively encouraged to keep donating blood plasma even after they had tested positive to the screening program.
DEADLY VIRUS IN BLOOD SUPPLIES, SAYS CREWS
29 April 2002
The Rev Bill Crews, from Ashfield's Uniting Church, said some people were still contracting the potentially fatal hepatitis C virus from contaminated blood products despite assurances to the contrary.