Canterbury GP accused of prescribing unapproved drugs, spreading misinformation

A Canterbury doctor is accused of professional misconduct after she allegedly imported and prescribed unapproved medicines to 29 patients and gave “inaccurate” and “misleading” advice about Covid-19.

The GP, who has interim name suppression, is before the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal, where she faces a charge of professional misconduct laid by the New Zealand Medical Council’s Professional Conduct Committee (PCC).

The council’s role is to protect and promote public health and safety.

The alleged “inaccurate” and “misleading” comments relate to when the GP spoke at a Freedom and Rights rally in 2021 and when she made a verbal submission to a council about vaccination passes.

The PCC alleges the GP “downplayed the seriousness of Covid-19”, claimed the Pfizer vaccine was “genetic therapy”, alleged there was “a lot of censorship going on”, and gave “inaccurate” and “misleading” statistics.

The GP had advocated for Ivermectin as a treatment option for Covid-19, despite knowing it was inconsistent with recommendations at the time from safety authority Medsafe and the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners, the PCC alleges.

Ivermectin is a prescription medicine approved for a limited number of conditions in New Zealand, including an intestinal disease caused by roundworm (strongyloidiasis), certain parasites in blood or tissue, and for scabies after prior treatment has failed. It is also used to treat parasites in livestock.

Internationally it has been touted as a Covid-19 treatment or cure, but there is little evidence to support those claims. It is dangerous in high doses, and Medsafe has published a warning about its use for Covid.

Between June 2021 and October 2021, it is alleged the Canterbury GP prescribed Ivermectin 34 times to 29 patients for treatment of Covid.

In doing so, she did not comply with recommendations about the medicine at the time and failed to make adequate medical records of 31 of her consultations, the PCC said.

This meant there was no record of any discussion she had with some of her patients about the medicine’s safety for treating Covid.

The GP marked the clinical records as “confidential”. Some patients were registered as casual patients, meaning the notes could not be viewed by other doctors at the medical centre she worked at, the PCC said.

In September 2021, the GP tried to import 2000 Ivermectin tablets (12mg each) when she knew or ought to have known it was not intended for a particular patient and that trying to import that quantity had potential safety risks, the PCC alleged.

It also alleged she prescribed the medicine to people who were not under her care and did not make any record of her discussions with them about the prescription and its use.

As an authorised prescriber, the GP could prescribe or authorise the release of a medicine that had been imported by an individual, but must comply with all relevant legal, professional and ethical obligations.

The PCC alleged the GP wrote to Medsafe accepting responsibility for the quality of the medicine and that she prescribed Ivermectin or hydroxychloroquine to multiple people who imported it and were not under her care.

The PCC said the alleged conduct amounted to professional misconduct, malpractice or negligence and “brought discredit to the profession”.

The GP admitted she prescribed, imported and authorised the release of unapproved medicines to treat or prevent Covid.

However, she did not accept she gave inaccurate and misleading statements about Covid.
The hearing will continue for a week.