Death threats: A line that has been crossed

On the morning of Monday, Nov.1, an email message arrived from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) asking me to contact them at my “earliest convenience” about a “letter” they’d received. I immediately phoned the CPSO. If you’ve ever been contacted by them, you know that it is an anxiety-provoking message. Never, though, did I imagine what would come next. In that call, I was told that they’d received an unusual letter, and that I would probably want to phone the police as well as the Canadian Medical Protective Association (CMPA). She told me the name of the person who had sent a complaint. I told her that it was not a patient, nor was it anyone that I’d ever met before or had any knowledge of through social media or anywhere else. She said that she could not tell me more, but that she would send me the letter and then she repeated that I should phone the police. It was not until almost 2 p.m. that they finally sent me the document through secure mail. That is when I learned that it was a death threat. I got on the phone with the Ottawa Police and shared the document with the CMPA. The letter began: “Complaint versus criminal fraudulent Charter-violating Nazi slut: Nili Kaplan-Myrth,” and went on, “following her Nazi COVIDSM,” and then went on to assert, “Furthermore, it’s legal and lawful to kill her (Nili Kaplan-Myrth) under Canadian and international law, and you College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, if you side with her barbarian pseudoscientific ass.” It then included links to some of the articles I’ve written and news appearances that I have made, and then page after page of references to mRNA vaccine conspiracy theory. Read: Dr. Nili Kaplan-Myrth: Who gets to define professionalism? My response to the letter was surprise, then anger, then fear. How dare anyone call for me to be killed because of the work that I do, as a family doctor? Yes, as a family doctor, I have spoken publicly about my concerns about primary care, about access to PPE, about access to COVID-19 tests, about issues of equity and access to COVID-19 vaccines. Yes, I ran five large community events in Ottawa, immunizing more than 2,000 patients. I did all of that because there was a dire need, because our patients and colleagues needed help. If I were to travel back in time, I’d make all the same choices. Advocacy is necessary. It is unconscionable, though, for advocacy to result in death threats. It is bizarre that the CPSO received the death threat on Oct. 20 and did not contact me until Nov. 1. It is shocking that the CPSO did not phone the police themselves, out of concern for my safety. Although I am a doctor, I am also a member of the public who, out of civic duty, should have been protected when the CPSO learned of the death threat. It is disappointing, but not surprising, that it then took four days for the Ottawa police to respond to my report of a death threat. In the interim, my CMPA counsel recommended that I upgrade the security system in my office. When I finally heard back from police, they phoned me at 11:45 p.m. to say that they wanted to know more about the death threat and whether I would like a police cruiser outside my office or my home. My office location is public knowledge, but my home address is not. The police asked, “So why are you target?” I then had to explain that I am a public figure because of my commitment to immunizing Canadians, because I held five “Jabapaloozas” to immunize more than 2,000 people in Ottawa. Sadly, this is not an isolated event. I am not the only person who is being threatened, harassed, harmed by anti-vax and anti-science zealots. I wrote an opinion piece (published in the Globe and Mail on Nov 8) to say, “I am afraid.… I’ve ramped up my security but still my sense of safety has gone out the window.” In response to that article, many more colleagues have reached out to me to tell me about the ways in which they, too, have suffered. They were shy or afraid to speak about the threats they’ve received as a result of their advocacy and work. We are about to immunize children (5 to 11-year-olds)— when it is approved by NACI and Health Canada—and I am afraid for my life, now, because of this threat from an anti-vaxxer. I am afraid to walk outside on the streets of Ottawa in the area around my office, as my face is known. I am afraid to go to/from my office on my own, because an angry stranger could attack me. I am afraid to announce that I am available to give COVID-19 vaccines to the community, because me or my staff or my patients could be targeted. If this threat were a troll online, it wouldn’t be possible to locate the perpetrator. However, the threat was sent by email to the CPSO. They are not divulging to us his location, or whether he has also threatened other doctors, but we can see from his bizarre letter to me, and from his online activity, that he is not someone with insight or judgment. We have reason to believe that he is within easy driving distance of where I work. Dr. Katherine Smart, president of the Canadian Medical Association, has stood up to say that physicians should be protected from harassment and threats. Dr Elizabeth Muggah, president of the Ontario College of Family Physicians, has reiterated that message. The MPP for my area, Joel Harden, has said the same, as have some other MPPs. It does not help, however—and likely exacerbates our plight—that the government in Ontario and in other provinces (Alberta is another stark example) have been publicly dismissive of doctors who speak in favor of COVID-19 vaccine mandates. Those leaders who turn a blind eye to anti-vax protests outside of hospitals and healthcare facilities are signalling to the public that they do not have our backs. At the end of the day, the pandemic has taught us who has our backs, who cares about our well-being. I don’t work in a hospital where I have security guards. I am vulnerable, out there in the community. But I will not cower in fear, silenced by threats, nor will I stand idly by while my colleagues are threatened. Together, we can stand up to say, our safety is paramount. As I’ve said on social media, “Never threaten me. Never threaten my colleagues. That is a clear line you must not cross.” Dr. Nili Kaplan-Myrth (PhD) is a family doctor and anthropologist who writes about health policy and politics. She co-hosts a podcast, Rx:Advocacy.ca. Follow her on Twitter: @nilikm

Death threats: A line that has been crossed

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