The author believes the Illinois Department of Public Health delayed its investigation of his mother’s death and the tainted blood recall. There also appears be a link between the FDA recall time and a lawsuit hearing before the Illinois Supreme Court. The FDA ordered the blood recall in 1996, but it wasn’t announced publicly in Chicago until 1998. Slaughter’s book reveals that in December 1996, when the recall should have been announced, a case concerning the blood company responsible for the tainted blood transfusions was being heard at the Illinois Supreme Court. He believes if the recall was announced timely by the blood company and hospitals as directed in the Consent Decree, the Illinois Supreme Court may have rendered a different opinion that could have set precedent on tainted blood transfusions cases and awarded 2.14 million dollars to the plaintiff. Furthermore, the two-year announcement delay voided recourse because the statute of limitation for prosecution of the blood company and hospitals had already expired for most of the victims. In 1998, when the recall was made pubic, it was under former Governor of Illinois, George Ryan’s administration. Slaughter is wondering why little or no effort was made to properly investigate his mother’s death and the other tainted blood transfusion victims by the Illinois Department of Public Health. George Ryan has since been found guilty of corruption by a Federal Jury in an unrelated matter, in which he is appealing.
In Ghosts of Hollandale, author Elvis Slaughter reveals this tragic story with specific details of the roles these individuals played and how thousands of innocent people fell victim to this horrific predicament. Slaughter has assumed the role of public activist to expose this wrongdoing and hopes to one day be able to help victims and their heirs receive financial compensation and have closure. Ghosts of Hollandale (ISBN 978-1-4196-6229-
