'Careless, often offensive and at time possibly harmful': Doctor who slammed COVID public health measures is stripped of his licence

An Ontario doctor who interfered with a COVID test for an infant and who exposed two physicians to online abuse by identifying them on social media has been stripped of his licence effective immediately. Dr. Patrick Brian Phillips, who worked as an emergency room physician in Englehart, Ont., was told during a hearing by the Ontario Physicians and Surgeons Discipline Tribunal that his actions at the height of the pandemic were "careless, often offensive and at times possibly harmful." At the conclusion of a videoconference trial on June 6, Dr. Phillips betrayed no emotions as the tribunal announced the revocation of his certificate to practice medicine in the province. He had been suspended in May 2022 pending hearings of his case., In 2021, Dr. Phillips made negative comments about COVID-related public health measures on Twitter—where he had about 53,000 followers—and on Reddit. In one instance, he tweeted that public health measures to address the pandemic were similar to how Hitler's Nazis treated people with disabilities. Read: Ontario doctor's licence suspended following COVID-19 medical exemption restriction On a Reddit group called LockdownSkepticism, Dr. Phillips appeared in a video where he described the risk of asymptomatic spread of COVID-19 as “negligible to non-existent,” according to a May 2022 CBC News article. He also posted on social media the names of two physicians who had complained about him to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, triggering abusive online comments—“murderers” and “criminals” were among the insults—directed at the two doctors. Dr. Phillips refused to obey a college order to take down the posts naming the two doctors, but a court order eventually forced him to comply. A case document posted on the website of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario cited several instances where Dr. Phillips acted in ways that would “reasonably be regarded” as disgraceful, dishonourable or unprofessional. These included interference with COVID testing for an infant who was not his patient, inappropriate reporting of adverse events following immunization, and inappropriate management of patients in relation to COVID-19 vaccines, treatment and prophylaxis. Dr. Phillips also gave out COVID-related medical exemptions to patients who did not meet the criteria for these exemptions, according to the case document. Read: Lifetime ban ends a 30-year career sullied by $400K in improper billing, $75K in fines and a criminal conviction

'Careless, often offensive and at time possibly harmful': Doctor who slammed COVID public health measures is stripped of his licence

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