Victorian Repealed Acts

This legislation has been repealed.

Health Act 1958 - SECT 132

Blood donations

132. Blood donations



(1) This section applies to an action brought by or on behalf of-

   (a)  a person who claims-

   (i)  to have been infected with HIV or Hepatitis C because he or she was
        given, or in any way dealt with, blood supplied by the Society or a
        hospital or a blood product derived from blood so supplied; or

   (ii) to have been infected with HIV or Hepatitis C by another person who
        was given, or in any way dealt with, any such blood or blood product;
        or

   (b)  a dependant of a person who died as a result of having been infected
        with HIV or Hepatitis C as mentioned in paragraph (a).

(2) In an action to which this section applies brought against a person
specified in column 1 of an item in the Table to this section it is a defence
to prove the facts or matters specified in column 2 of that Table unless any
of the facts or circumstances mentioned in column 3 of that Table apply.

TABLE



Item Column 1 Person against whom action brought Column 2

Defences Column 3

Exception to defences 1 The Society, a hospital or an employee, agent or
voluntary worker of the Society or a hospital. The Society or hospital- (a)
before taking the blood from a donor obtained a statement from the donor in
the prescribed form; and (b) before supplying the blood or a blood product-

   (i)  caused a sample; or

   (ii) in the case of a blood product, caused a sample of each unit of blood
        from which the product was derived-
to be tested in an approved manner for After the Society or hospital supplied
blood, the Society or hospital had reasonable grounds for believing that the
blood was likely to contain HIV or Hepatitis C (as the case may be) and did
not take all reasonable steps- (a) to find out whether the blood, or a blood
product derived from that blood had been given to a person; and







Item Column 1 Person against whom action brought Column 2

Defences Column 3

Exception to defences

the presence of HIV or Hepatitis C (as the case may be); and (c) obtained a
negative result from that test or each of those tests. (b) to ensure that any
remaining part of the blood, or a blood product derived from that blood, is
not given to any person. 2 A hospital or another body at whose premises blood
supplied by the Society or a hospital or a blood product derived from blood
supplied by the Society or a hospital is administered to a person. Either- (a)
when the blood or blood product was administered, there was attached to the
container in which the blood or blood product was contained a certificate
purporting to have been issued at the laboratory at which a sample of the
blood was tested stating-

   (i)  in the case of blood- that a sample of the blood; and

   (ii) in the case of a blood product- that a sample of each unit of blood
        from which the blood product was derived-
was tested in an approved manner for the presence of HIV or Hepatitis (as the
case may be) and that the result of the test was negative; or If, at any time
up to and including the time at which the blood or blood product was
administered, the hospital or other body at whose premises the blood or blood
product was administered- (a) had been informed that the blood or blood
product was likely to contain HIV or Hepatitis C (as the case may be); and (b)
did not take reasonable steps to ensure that the blood or blood product was
not administered to any person.





Item Column 1 Person against whom action brought Column 2

Defences Column 3

Exception to defences s. 132

(b) the Society or hospital by which the blood or blood product was supplied-



   (i)  before taking the blood from a donor obtained a statement from the
        donor in the prescribed form; and



   (ii) before supplying the blood or a blood product-



                (A)  caused a sample; or

                (B)  in the case of a blood product, caused a sample of each
                     unit of blood from which the product was derived- to be
                     tested in an approved manner for the presence of HIV or
                     Hepatitis C (as the case may be); and

   (iii) obtained a negative result from that test or each of those tests; or















Item Column 1 Person against whom action brought Column 2

Defences Column 3

Exception to defences

(c) if the blood or blood product was likely to deteriorate rapidly and was
required to be administered urgently, that blood from the donor had been
tested within the preceding six months in an approved manner for the presence
of HIV or Hepatitis C (as the case may be) and the result of that test was
negative.

s. 132 3 A registered medical practitioner or a person acting on behalf of a
registered medical practitioner who administered to a person blood supplied by
the Society or a hospital or a blood product derived from blood so supplied.
The defences set out in column 2 of item 2. If, at any time up to and
including the time at which the blood or blood product was administered, the
registered medical practitioner or other person- (a) had been informed that
the blood or blood product was likely to contain HIV or Hepatitis C (as the
case may be); and



(b) did not take reasonable steps to ensure that the blood or blood product
was not administered to any person.