Ontario Doctor Decries ‘Medical Tyranny’ After Being Barred From Issuing Vaccine, Mask Exemptions

A COVID-19 vaccine is prepared to be administered at a hospital in Toronto on Dec. 14, 2020. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press)

An Ontario family physician says he is “proud” of taking a stand against “medical tyranny” after the province’s medical regulator barred him from issuing medical exemptions for COVID-19 vaccines, testing, and mask requirements.

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) alleged that Dr. Patrick Phillips “engaged in disgraceful, dishonourable or unprofessional conduct” in relation to his communications, including posts on social media.

The regulator said his posts on various digital platforms were allegedly “making misleading, incorrect or inflammatory statements about vaccinations, treatments and public health measures for COVID-19.”

The CPSO has imposed interim restrictions on Phillips for his refusal to co-operate with its investigation into allegations he’s spread misinformation about the pandemic.

Phillips is also prohibited from prescribing ivermectin—an antiparasitic agent that Health Canada says should not be used to treat COVID-19—or Fluvoxamine and Atorvastatin, in connection with the virus.

On Sept. 28, Phillips responded to the allegations and restrictions on Twitter, saying, “Never have I been more proud of myself than the day I decided to take a stand against our country’s medical tyranny.”

“Providing patients and the public access to treatments for COVID-19 and vaccine injuries and protecting them from medical coercion is not something I will regret,” he wrote.

In another Twitter post, Phillip said COVID-19 testing is “not a harm-free procedure,” citing the example of a young girl who received a nasal swab test required for a return to school and subsequently began bleeding from her nose and one of her eyes.

“For that reason it requires informed consent free from any coercion or reprimand if the test is declined,” Phillips wrote, while noting that “forced medical procedures are assault under the Criminal Code of Canada.”

The CPSO has referred the allegations against Phillips to its disciplinary tribunal.

In the hearing notice, the CPSO alleges that, between Aug. 2020 and Sept. 2021, Phillips “committed an act of professional misconduct” by making posts on social media about the COVID-19 pandemic and refusing to co-operate with its investigations.

The college said Phillips is the first doctor to be referred to its disciplinary tribunal and face interim measures over allegations of COVID-19 misinformation although a date for a hearing has not yet been set.

Phillips’s primary location of practice is the Englehart and District Hospital in Englehart, Ont.

In March 2021, the CPSO warned Dr. Kulvinder Kaur Gill, a pediatrics specialist in Brampton, Ont., over several Twitter posts regarding COVID-19, including one that said, “Mitigation strategies such as masks and the lockdown are not necessary.”

Gill was accused of a “lack of professionalism and failure to exercise caution in her posts on social media, which is irresponsible behaviour for a member of the profession and presents a possible risk to public health.”

That decision is being appealed to the Health Professions Appeal and Review Board, an independent adjudicative agency. According to the CPSO, a request for judicial review has also been filed with the Divisional Court.

With files from The Canadian Press