Alberta Physicians College Drops Charges Against Doctor Who Gave COVID Vaccine Exemptions

A syringe is filled with the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in British Columbia on April 10, 2021. Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press via AP, File

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta (CPSA) has dropped charges against an Edmonton-area doctor who gave out COVID-19 vaccine exemptions to patients.

Dr. Michal Princ was charged with professional misconduct and was scheduled for a disciplinary hearing on March 8, which has now been cancelled.

The charges against him were formally dropped on Jan. 10, the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) said in a Jan. 18 news release.

Dr. Princ was accused of failing to follow vaccine exemption requirements set out by the CPSA, Alberta Health Services (AHS), and the province’s Chief Medical Officer of Health in April 2023, the release said.

The JCCF funded Dr. Princ’s legal case.

The charges were dropped following a court decision, Ingram v. Alberta, where the court found the health orders were invalid because they were issued by politicians rather than the Chief Medical Officer of Health.

“Court of King’s Bench Justice Barbara Romaine found this to be contrary to the Public Health Act and ruled that health orders must come from the Chief Medical Officer of Health in order to be valid,” JCCF said.

One of Dr. Princ’s attorneys, Andre Memauri, said they were pleased with the news.

“Our client was ethically motivated by the sacrosanct and longstanding principle of ‘do no harm.’ We are pleased the CPSA has withdrawn charges, although we wish the charges had been withdrawn to protect professional independence, not based on the Ingram ruling,” he said in the release. “The relationship of trust between each physician and his or her patients must be brought back to the forefront of medical practice.”

Change to Public Health Act

Since the Ingram decision, Alberta’s legislative assembly has made changes to the Public Health Act that require public health orders to be issued by the cabinet, not by the Chief Medical Officer of Health.

JCCF said that while the CPSA, AHS, and Chief Medical Officer of Health released requirements that are called “guidance,” they were “strict and inflexible.”

The JCCF said there were virtually no grounds for exemption from the COVID-19 vaccine based on requirements issued by CPSA, AHS, and the provincial medical officer.

“The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta violated the ethical principle of informed and voluntary consent for medical treatment, by threatening medical doctors with the loss of their license if they exercised their independent clinical judgment about the safety and efficacy of new vaccines for which no long-term safety data existed,” JCCF President John Carpay said in the release.

“In the ‘Rapid Brief’ document of Alberta Health Services, informed consent is only mentioned once, when recommending vaccination to women ‘who are pregnant, breastfeeding, or planning to become pregnant,’ or to people with a history of allergies,” said Glenn Blackett, another attorney for Dr. Princ.

“Perhaps even more troubling is the CPSA’s COVID-19 Vaccine: Questions and answers for the public and healthcare practitioners, which encourages doctors advising vaccine-hesitant patients to employ ‘motivational interviewing’ techniques,” he said. “When I read that, a shiver ran up my spine.”

Legal Battles With Regulatory Colleges

It’s not the first challenge that Canadian medical professionals have faced by regulatory bodies with regard to COVID-19 vaccines.

In October 2023, the College of Registered Nurses of Saskatchewan (CRNS) held a disciplinary hearing for nurse Leah McInnes.

Ms. McInnes was facing discipline for social media posts about vaccine mandates, vaccine passports, and related issues like freedom of choice and medical privacy.

She was accused of violating the association’s code of conduct with her online comments.

The CRNS accused the nurse of the “misuse” of her influence as a health care provider.

In 2022, the CRNS also advised nurse Shelly Wilson that she could face discipline over her social media posts regarding COVID-19 vaccines, masks, and treatment options that “did not accord with public health or mainstream media narratives,” according to the JCCF.

The CRNS asked Ms. Wilson to sign an agreement that would admit professional misconduct. They ended up dropping the case.

Three doctors in Ontario were suspended during their battle with the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons over public comments each made that were critical of the COVID-19 restrictions and vaccines.

One of the doctors ended up permanently losing his license for issuing exemptions for COVID-19 vaccines, masking requirements, and testing.

Matthew Horwood contributed to this report.