To Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters

Please investigate the Medical Council of New Zealand

To: The Rt. Hon. Winston Peters (Winston.Peters@parliament.govt.nz)

From: Emanuel E. Garcia, M.D. (emanuelegarcia@gmail.com)

Subject: The Destructive and Unnecessary Harassment of Good Doctors by the Medical Council of New Zealand

Date: 26/6/2024

Dear Deputy Prime Minister:

I was heartened to have received news from New Zealand First about an impending new Covid Inquiry beginning this November, and I applaud your efforts to bring this much-needed inquiry about.

However, I would like to call your attention to an entity that appears not to be included in the Inquiry – an entity that has played a significant role to the public detriment and is apparently unchecked as it continues to work against us: The Medical Council of New Zealand.

When Covid broke out doctors who spoke up about health policy measures that were extreme and ran contrary to foundational medical principles of early treatment and informed consent and doing no harm had their licences suspended and, in some cases, revoked. Some were further subjected to Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunals and Professional Conduct Complaints for, in essence, being good and decent physicians. Their tenacity in pursuing unjustified actions against doctors amounts to nothing less than a Witch Hunt.

Today, as I write, the Medical Council continues to harangue and persecute and subject doctors to ongoing Tribunals and Complaint hearings for having prescribed Ivermectin, for example – a medicine that has been used successfully worldwide to treat and protect against Covid.

These good physicians have had their lives upended and, in some cases, their careers destroyed, for adhering to the principles of good medicine.

As you know, New Zealand suffers a shortage of General Practitioners and other medical specialists. The unwarranted activities of the Medical Council, who are inexplicably going after doctors who have admirably attempted to fulfil their duties to their patients by treating and helping them, should be stopped. The Medical Council itself should be investigated for breach of duty, given the harm that their actions are causing.

Sincerely,

Emanuel E. Garcia, M.D.

Retired Psychiatrist

New Zealand