Expert says 'bold' action needed on B.C. doctors and nurses accused of anti-vaccine misinformation
CBC
More than a year after a B.C. doctor began circulating a letter declaring the COVID-19 pandemic "over" and speaking at rallies against masks and vaccines, there's still no resolution to the numerous complaints filed against him.
Dr. Stephen Malthouse, now the subject of further investigation for his alleged involvement with a business offering phoney mask and vaccine exemption 'certificates,' is currently a fully licensed doctor with no limits on his medical practice, according to the College of Physicians and Surgeons.
That comes as a shock to Harry Cayton, an international expert on professional regulation who completed a review of B.C.'s health colleges in 2019.
"If you are standing up in public and saying I'm a doctor and I'm going to say things which are contrary to good medical practice, then you are, I think, in breach of standards and you should be challenged by the regulator," Cayton told CBC News.
"That is very different from saying in the privacy of your own home to your spouse, 'I'm not keen on this vaccination lark.'"
Several health professional colleges in B.C. have had to confront concerns about licensed medical professionals discouraging COVID-19 vaccination and spreading unproven claims about the virus.
Just this week, the College of Nurses and Midwives issued a warning in response to public statements from unvaccinated nurses calling themselves 'NURZ's and declaring they are "divorcing" from the college because of B.C.'s vaccine requirement for health-care workers.
These cases highlight a struggle Cayton says regulators around the world are dealing with as they attempt to draw a line between the importance of respecting personal opinion and encouraging scientific debate on the one hand, and keeping the public safe from COVID-19 on the other.
It also calls attention to the different approaches that Canadian provinces are taking when dealing with health professionals accused of spreading misinformation.
"If necessary, government has to step in and clarify the law around these things," Cayton said.
"We have to say that it's not in the public interest in the present circumstances for people to be discouraging other people from protecting themselves from the virus."
According to a petition filed by Malthouse in B.C. Supreme Court in June, the college has informed him of its intention to reprimand him and ban him from speaking about COVID-19 in response to complaints from at least 10 other physicians.
Malthouse has argued that's an infringement of his right to free speech and is asking for the courts to step in, claiming in his petition that his statements on the pandemic are "backed and supported by sound scientific and medical peer-reviewed literature and evidence."
The college says it is unable to comment on the proposed disciplinary action or the next step in that case.
The amount of money it takes for people to earn a living wage has increased across the province, according to a new report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).
The new owner of Ontario steelmaker Stelco says his company "will not disappoint the people of Hamilton and Nanticoke," where the business's major facilities are based.
A Winnipegger is warning others about an intricate scam she says she almost fell for.
Fort William First Nation is opposing a planned redevelopment of the Ontario Power Generation's (OPG) 117 year old Kakabeka Falls Generating Station, which is located in their traditional territory.
A building that sits at the corner of Sussex Street and Brunswick Avenue has had many lives over the last century — being a church, a school and offices. Now it's set to become housing, at a time when the city sorely needs it.
A Waterloo, Ont., elementary school principal will be sentenced in the new year after pleading guilty to child sexual exploitation charges following a joint investigation that involved the London, Toronto and Waterloo police services.
Students at UPEI have let their student union know what they want from the province this fiscal year, and those priorities are reflected in a 2024-2025 advocacy document brought to the legislature on Wednesday.
Larger communities in the N.W.T. will soon see a boost in their territorial funding to maintain infrastructure and deliver services — like water and waste management — but the increase still falls short of what communities need.
The toxic drug crisis has taken more than 47,000 lives in Canada since 2016 and the synthetic opioid fentanyl has become a household name. But now, what's believed to be an even more potent class of synthetic drugs is showing up in drug busts across the country: nitazenes.
The Liberal government and the NDP have agreed to introduce a two-month GST vacation on certain items before the holiday season, Radio-Canada has learned.
Veterinarians are warning Londoners to make sure their dogs are vaccinated and keeping clean after a deadly virus outbreak was declared in London this week.