Dauphin doc who pushed conspiracy theories returns to work

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This article was published 06/01/2021 (1352 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Manitoba physician who claimed the COVID-19 pandemic is an attempt to create a “totalitarian society” is practicing medicine again.

However, he can only do so if he agrees to stop spreading false information about the deadly disease.

Dr. Blair Hrabarchuk, an internal medicine physician who practices in Dauphin, posted several messages on his Facebook page in August that questioned the seriousness of the pandemic.

He claimed face masks don’t help reduce the transmission of the virus, and argued forcing people to wear them is a human rights violation. He stated, without evidence, that more than two-thirds of COVID-19 fatalities were among people who would have died anyway in 2020.

“This is not about a virus,” wrote Hrabarchuk, who identified himself as a doctor in his posts. “It’s never been about a virus. We are experiencing the first steps toward creating a totalitarian society.”

Dr. Anna Ziomek, registrar with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba, says all physicians have a professional and ethical duty to support public health directives. She said failure to do so undermines confidence in public health and is a breach of the college’s code of ethics.

“(Hrabarchuk) recognizes now that he needs to revoke those statements,” Ziomek said in an interview with the Free Press.

The college received several complaints from patients and the public about Hrabarchuk’s comments, said Ziomek. Following an investigation, the college directed Hrabarchuk to post signage in his clinic that refutes his earlier statements and supports public health directives.

Ziomek said doctors have a responsibility to society and to their colleagues. They are entitled to their own opinions, but cannot use their positions as physicians to “propagate” those views if they are inconsistent with public health directives, she said.

“Privately, you are allowed to have different views because sometimes facts, literature, studies can be interpreted differently,” said Ziomek. “However, the role in a pandemic is without a doubt to support public health.”

Hrabarchuk posted YouTube links to conspiracy theories about the pandemic on his Facebook page, and said reputable medical journals can’t be trusted. He said he was prepared for whatever consequences came his way for speaking out.

“There is no need for the public to live in fear and be controlled by politicians and mainstream media,” he wrote.

Hrabarchuk, who practices at the Dauphin Medical Clinic in the Prairie Mountain Health region, took down his Facebook page in September, after a Free Press report. He stopped practicing in the fall, but Ziomek said his licence was never revoked.

Hrabarchuk resumed his practice under the college’s terms and conditions.

He is required to post signage in his clinic “which makes clear that any information which he has previously shared or posted on social media or that he has otherwise disseminated about COVID-19 was not intended to suggest that the current COVID-19 pandemic is not a serious health emergency,” the conditions state.

“Dr. Hrabarchuk will ensure that any further information about COVID-19 that he otherwise disseminates to his patients or the public regarding COVID-19 in any format, including in writing, verbally and on social media, is not contrary to current public health directives.”

Hrabarchuk did not respond to an interview request.

tom.brodbeck@freepress.mb.ca