Aussie Doctor Banned for Social Media Posts, By Brian Simpson
Medical Board of Australia v Ellis (Review and Regulation) [2024] VCAT 113 (6 February 2024), heard before the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, decided that the suspension of Victorian general practitioner Michael Ellis was legally justified, and that he was has been further disqualified from reapplying to February 2025. This was due to some highly inflamed social media posts that were super-critical of the medical profession. A case summary seemed to imply that there were "demeaning comments" made about members of the LGBTQI+ community, and people of Islamic faith and the Chinese. I looked at the posts that were reproduced in the case, and it seems to me to be typical conservative material, not race-hate. Thus, he comments about the Chinese were about the Chinese take over of Australia, and seem correct to me. "PARTS OF MELBOURNE ARE LIKE SHANGHAI OR BEIJING." Yes, it is true; and certainly at least an arguable position, as the blog shows.
However, the doctor went much further and said:
"HOSPITALS ARE DEATH CHAMBERS[.] THEY TREAT PATIENTS AS DISEASES AND ANIMALS ON A CONVEYOR BELT[.] IF LUCKY YOU WILL SURVIVE[.] OTHERWISE YOU ARE COLLATERAL DAMAGE AND LUCKY IF YOU GO OUT UNSCATHED!!!!! ..."
This is asking for trouble. So, I am not surprised at the outcome, but still, his position has been argued for by respectable academics, like Ivan Illich, Medical Nemesis: The Expropriation of Health (1982). Still, in the US, land of the so-called free, we have also seen similar cases. So, if one is a doctor, expect trouble if also venturing into social criticism of the medical profession.
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