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New Zealand Doctors Speaking Out with Science
“We’re never going to comply our way out of tyranny… You can only speak up.”
Dr Cindy de Villiers, GP
During the Covid pandemic, New Zealand was ushered into a front-row seat where the feature presentation starred fear and uncertainty. Amid the most restrictive pandemic rules in the world, doctors like Dr Cindy de Villiers, refused to let the fear agenda dominate her response.
A Practice That Puts Patients First
Dr de Villiers, a founding member of NZDSOS and a South African-trained doctor with a rational approach to life and medicine, bases her medical practice on integrative and functional medicine.
She’d left behind the constraints of 15-minute pharmaceutical medicine to embrace a private holistic practice. Her consultations are now often an hour in length where she can focus on piecing together the patient’s healthcare puzzle. That detective work includes taking an inventory of lifestyle, exercise, supplements, stress reduction [and] nutrition, while allowing the patient to tell the story around their issue.
“Allowing the patient to speak and allowing them to tell their story, that again, is quite a healing process.”
Instead of making pharmaceutical prescriptions the default treatment, she prefers to collaborate with patients on prevention and improving the terrain of their body. She’s cautious to not unduly influence their decisions, preferring to allow them to make treatment choices based on being fully informed.
The Pandemic Response
So when Covid started, she was alarmed that the response from the NZ Ministry of Health was increasingly fear-based.
While she tried to maintain a sense of rationality, knowing it was a common coronavirus, fear permeated a portion of her patient population. But not necessarily a fear of the virus itself.
“… there was a fear that there would be forced treatment. I think that fear was greater than the fear of Covid.”
She saw fear increasing for both doctors and the public, and neither the Ministry of Health nor the Royal New Zealand College of GPs (RNZCGP) provided clear guidance for treating Covid infection. Many were feeling lost and vulnerable.
Even so, Dr de Villiers expected common sense to take hold. As the response continued unchecked, NZDSOS was formed so that doctors could discuss the science, and approach the authorities with questions and scientific evidence.
The doctors of NZDSOS realised they were playing an important role in empowering the population by providing information, knowledge and reassurance, which was based on their decades of clinical experience.
“And really, what we tried to do in the early days, we thought we just need to point out a few concerns and there would be a pause. Obviously, that hasn’t happened. It just kept going. No matter how many letters we wrote, no matter how many scientific articles we quoted, we almost shifted initially from that, to putting out content that we felt was really scientific-based, and so that people could make up their own minds.”
She expected that raising valid concerns would lead to a pause and re-evaluation from The Ministry of Health and MCNZ. However, that was not the case.
When the Medical Council issued its Guidance Statement, it only led to more questions.
“We got the guidance statement from the medical council stating that the only thing we were allowed to do was talk about the benefits of the vaccine.”
So she, along with NZDSOS, took the next reasonable action and requested clarification.
“We actually wrote back to the Medical Council asked them to clarify that point, which they did not do. And as far as I can recall now, it’s about two years ago, they didn’t actually write back.”
In Dr de Villiers’ assessment, the authorities were not acting in the best interest of the citizens. Her drive to do the right thing became her anchor.
She started to speak out publicly, basing her talks on the ethical practice of medicine, respect for humanity, the up-to-date science, and her professional knowledge and experience. She promoted the coming together of communities despite their beliefs, prevention of infection, immune support, and the use of ivermectin.
But those measured rational views led to penalties.
The Price for Unmasking the Truth
Despite no patient complaints or evidence of harm caused, Dr de Villiers was sanctioned and investigated by the MCNZ. Their tactic of early action against doctors opposing the irrational policies prevented some of the leading concerned voices from being heard.
Ultimately, seven conditions were unjustly imposed on her annual practicing certificate restricting how she could practice medicine and what she could say – inside the consultation room and out.
“There were seven conditions [placed on her practicing certificate], and basically said that in treating a patient with Covid, or in talking to a patient about Covid, I was only allowed to say what the guidelines were. I wasn’t allowed to offer any other treatment or any other suggestions at all. I wasn’t allowed to display anything in the practice that went counter to the guidelines either. I wasn’t allowed to put anything on social media at all about anything that was counter to the guidelines. I basically had to say exactly what… I don’t know whether it’s the government or the Ministry of Health, probably. Exactly what the Ministry of Health has said, that was all I was allowed to say. And if I departed from that, then they could send me to the Tribunal, of course.”
Dr de Villiers was threatened, silenced and prevented from offering her professional medical opinion for 18 months. She was prohibited from speaking or posting on the subject whatsoever. Her freedom of speech was effectively erased.
Given the uncertainty during this time she felt she had no choice but to close her clinic, only recently reopening in mid-2023.
“We did apply for a district court review or appeal, rather, against the conditions. And then without any drama or reason, the medical council dropped them. So I’m now free to talk about it, anything I want to.”
So when called out, the MCNZ scuttled into the corner and dropped the charges, presumably so they didn’t have to appear in court – a common theme that other doctors in a similar situation have experienced as well.
The MCNZ is, however, pursuing Dr de Villiers, into undertaking a “re-education” program. Dr de Villiers is considering her options against the actions by MCNZ.
An Awakening Is Taking Hold
The tide of fear is shifting now as Kiwis become more aware of what’s going on. And Dr de Villiers firmly believes it’s crucial that New Zealand forges ahead with a new vision.
“There is an awakening, and the more people that know [about the silencing of doctors], the better. There certainly is a movement towards, I would say, freedom and humanity and away from the darker side of humanity, which seems to be a very controlling circumstance of a few over a lot. I think we’re moving away from that. We just know it now. Before, we didn’t know we were controlled. Now we do. Now we can do something about it.”
With momentum building, it’s time to reform the Medical Council of New Zealand and question why they are acting in unison with the rest of the world’s medical regulatory bodies and where they are getting their instructions from.
“In the past, there may have been a few outliers who didn’t like pharmaceuticals. But now there’s… a much greater questioning of what’s going on, not just with pharmaceuticals, but with everything. We can only build on that. Now is not the time for backing off.”
If you’d like to listen to the entire one-hour interview between Dr Cindy de Villiers and Dr Emanuel E Garcia, please visit Substack.
The Medical Council of New Zealand needs to be overhauled for condemning common sense during the Covid era. Share this article using the hashtag #stopthesilence so we can expose the Medical Council of New Zealand for their failure of patients, doctors, and the public.
