Although many may feel as though the threat of the pandemic has finally diminished, the residual consequences of ineffective policy measures continue to plague Canadian society. The recent influx of children in hospitals and the rise of an unprecedented flu-like illnesses may suggest that we are simply in the eye of the storm. Various health experts theorize that the spike of respiratory infections in children is the unfortunate consequence of heightened physical distancing and restrictions that prevented young people from building immunity during their most formative years. While there is undeniably truth to this, it is necessary to acknowledge that a lack of cohesion in the initial onset of COVID-19 led to this unfortunate outcome. Those who opposed masking and vaccines prolonged public isolation and placed vulnerable individuals at risk of hospitalization and death. For the longest time, medical experts emphasized the importance of establishing “herd immunity” which could only be accomplished if a substantial portion of the population became vaccinated. While most of the population deferred to the judgement of physicians, nurses and pharmacists, some medical experts challenged the status quo and fuelled vaccine hesitancy by spreading misinformation.
Most notably, several physicians granted unjustified exemptions based on their own skewed political opinions. Other medical professionals spread misinformation on social media, thus fueling vaccine hesitancy which contributed to the spread of conspiracy theories over the real threat of the pandemic. Part of the greater issue was the lack of accountability that these health experts faced when confronted with the problem. The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) is a regulatory administrative body responsible for overseeing the conduct of medical professionals. This tribunal provided authority for doctors to issue exemptions for vaccines based on their professional assessment of a patient. However, a lack of oversight resulted in several exemptions being granted that were based on political opinion as opposed to justified medical reason. In January 2022, Health Minister Christine Elliott issued concerns over the widespread number of exemptions that were offered to patients. Moreover, she noted the spread of misinformation, and the need for doctors to be held accountable for their conduct.
Just recently, in March 2022, the CPSO decided to suspend the medical licence of physician Dr. Crystal Luchkiw for medical misconduct. Dr. Luchkiw was said to have issued an exemption and refused to comply with requests from the college to undergo an investigation into the justification of the decision. Dr. Luchkiw argued that the CPSO lacks the authority to review the medical decisions of doctors. However, it was later discovered that Dr. Luchkiw also spread misinformation to her patients, discouraging vaccinations and even issuing social media posts which claimed that COVID-19 was a hoax. Upon careful review of the decision, judicial review was dismissed as it was determined that there were no procedural issues facing the decision. While this outcome appears to be positive and sheds light on the competencies of the CPSO to hold doctors accountable, ultimately many doctors remain unpunished for their negative conduct. In fact, the only reason Dr. Luchkiw was initially reviewed by the CPSO was because she issued a vaccine exemption to an immunocompromised individual. This factor spurred concern. Many other doctors have been more subtle in circumventing the mandatory vaccines and have issued exemptions that are not subject to CPSO review. It could be argued that greater judicial oversight should be imposed to account for the lack of effort in investigating this larger systemic issue. After all, the spread of misinformation and the prominence of vaccine hesitancy is arguably the reason that the pandemic has dragged on for so long. Of course, even with vaccine distribution and widespread inoculation, residual consequences of the pandemic would have persisted, however, it is likely that more people would have been vaccinated, preventing widespread transmission and sickness.
It is past time that we hold negligent doctors accountable for the spread of misinformation and take action beyond the mere suspension of licences. Misinformation has catastrophic consequences that result in higher deaths and greater suffering. For an administrative decision to be effective it must adopt greater oversight or be subjected to higher degrees of judicial review so the courts can establish procedural fairness into the process of administering vaccine exemptions.