ABC admits Norman Swan breached editorial standards over Shane Warne, Kimberley Kitching remarks
The ABC has counselled Norman Swan over his comments linking the heart attack deaths of Shane Warne and Kimberley Kitching to COVID.
The ABC has admitted Dr Norman Swan’s comments linking the heart attack deaths of cricketer Shane Warne and Labor senator Kimberley Kitching to COVID-19 breached its editorial standards.
But the broadcaster, in a statement, said it had discussed the matter with its health expert and referred to his apology for the remarks.
Warne’s former manager ridiculed Swan for his “absurd” on-air claim that the sudden death of the cricketer in March was linked to an earlier Covid infection.
On Tuesday morning, Dr Swan told ABC News it was “too much of a coincidence” that both Warne and Victorian senator Kimberley Kitching (who had a fatal heart attack earlier this year, also aged 52) had died not long after having Covid.
He did not offer any medical evidence to back up the claim.
Warne’s former manager James Erskine said the ABC had acted irresponsibly in allowing Dr Swan’s comment to go to air.
“It’s totally disrespectful to air it. It’s just asinine,” Mr Erskine told The Australian.
“Why would anyone take any notice of what this guy has to say? What on earth would he know about Shane’s health?
“Maybe he (Dr Swan) could tell us who really killed JFK.”
An ABC spokesman on Wednesday said “Dr Norman Swan has apologised for comments made on ABC News Breakfast suggesting the deaths of senator Kimberley Kitching and cricketer Shane Warne may have been linked to Covid.
“Senator Kitching is not known to have ever had Covid.
“Dr Swan has had discussions with ABC management about the comments. He understands the comments did not meet the ABC’s editorial standards.”
When The Australian asked Dr Swan if he had apologised to Warne’s family for his “error”, as he had done to Senator Kitching’s husband, he referred the inquiry to the ABC Communications team.
A spokesperson for the ABC also refused to answer: “We don’t comment in the media about employee issues because of the ABC’s obligation to respect employees’ confidentiality and privacy.”
Dr Swan is a qualified doctor who last practised medicine in the early 1980s.
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