Dr Norman Swan is FINALLY told off by ABC bosses

The ABC has admitted that Dr Norman Swan made comments that ‘were clearly incorrect’ when he linked the heart-attack deaths of Shane Warne and Kimberley Kitching to Covid-19. 

ABC managing director David Anderson said Dr Swan was spoken to by bosses and that he was ‘remorseful.’ 

‘Dr Swan realises that he did provide an opinion that was otherwise not substantiated, that was not in keeping with our editorial standards,’ he said after being questioned by Liberal Senator Sarah Henderson at senate estimates on Tuesday. 

‘He realises that is not to be done and that that was not in keeping with the standards we expect.’ 

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The ABC’s Managing Director, David Anderson (pictured) says Dr Norman Swan was ‘remorseful’ about his comments

Dr Swan had told Daily Mail Australia it was ‘too much of a coincidence’ that the Senator and the cricket legend had died of ‘sudden cardiac arrests’ in their 50s after contracting the virus.

He copped a backlash when it was revealed Ms Kitching had not contracted the virus before her death. 

Warne died aged just 52 of a sudden heart attack on March 4 while on holiday in Thailand a few weeks after a mild case of Covid.

Senator Kitching also succumbed to a suspected heart attack six days later, at the same age, but had not contracted Covid before her death or tested positive previously. 

Warne died aged just 52 of a sudden heart attack on March 4 while on holiday in Thailand a few weeks after a mild case of Covid 

Dr Swan had said it was ‘too much of a coincidence’ that Kitching and Warne had died through ‘sudden cardiac arrests’ after having contracted Covid-19

Dr Swan was forced to issue grovelling apology for ‘speculating’ about the two high-profile deaths. 

‘I’ve personally apologised to Andrew her husband,’ Dr Swan told News.com.au. 

‘I’ve clearly made an error which I deeply regret. I do recall such reports and have checked with others who did too but that doesn’t excuse my having upset the family.’

He added that he wouldn’t have aired his theories on the deaths if he had thought it would have hurt the families involved. 

‘I think it helps to have an explanation and this might be one, and it’s a message to other people that you have to be careful and not blasé about catching this,’ he said.  

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Former deputy chief medical officer Nick Coatsworth (pictured) publicly criticised Dr Swan saying: ‘You can’t go wrong if you just avoid making assumptions and speculating about causes of death, particularly when they were both so tragic’ 

Dr Nick Coatsworth, remembered as the face of Australia’s vaccine rollout, publicly criticised Dr Swan for speculating about the deaths.

‘I think Norman would be the first to agree that it wasn’t his best moment in the pandemic.’

‘You can’t go wrong if you just avoid making assumptions and speculating about causes of death, particularly when they were both so tragic,’ he continued. 

Dr Swan was forced to issue grovelling apology for ‘speculating’ about the two high-profile deaths

The former deputy chief medial officer said speculation had no place in the current Covid discourse and questioned Dr Swan’s motivations. 

‘Why would Dr Swan at this point in the pandemic be bringing up a study that talks about increased clots in the arteries that could potentially be linked to a heart attack that was conducted in 2020,’ he asked. 

‘This was pre vaccine, pre the omicron wave and pre the amount of hybrid immunity that we’ve got in the community. It’s creating this concern with a study that was conducted in a different era of the pandemic.’