Until someone’s walked in the rejected person’s shoes, expressing what alienation from your professional body does, words don’t do it. The betrayal was like a stab in the back. We have now witnessed how nasty they play when a council turns on one of its own.
The New Zealand Medical Council (MCNZ) decided Dr Alanna Ratna was so bad that she must be struck off the medical register and financially ruined. Full of spite, the MCNZ determined to not only punish, but to alienate and charge Dr Alanna Ratna a whopping fine of $107,000, an impossible financial burden for someone not earning.
The MCNZ displayed unfair malevolence towards a member for nearly four years.
Dr Ratna had not caused any injury or hurt anyone. Although she was retired and had no practicing certificate since 2006, Dr Ratna had kept her medical education up to date and her registration open in case she should want to return to work once her son was a little older. However, she then recognised the MCNZ is not fit for purpose and needs to be disbanded and replaced. She no longer wanted to be registered and indeed asked to be deregistered, but that request was ignored.
The NZ Medical Council discredited this doctor because she spoke about warnings from her research about the untested Covid-19 so-called ‘vaccination’. She raised this warning particularly for pregnant women and children, as a concerned citizen and parent, rather than in her professional capacity. The MCNZ decided to fine her for saying what she believed and to use her as a deterrent to stop other doctors speaking out. The professional body became her attacker.
In the last week or so, this doctor ran out of options. She had to pay a fine for doing nothing wrong. The High Court proceedings went against her but did instruct the Medical Council to halve the punitive fine to $54,000, still a huge amount.
How did this professional body lose its way at such an important time? Why did they behave so badly? Aren’t they meant to advocate for members and protect the public?
Was there anyone in this medical council who stood up for this doctor? Did each member go along with this vindictiveness? The answer is not completely known, but Mr Richard Aston, a former NZ governance expert and previous chair of the board of Consumer NZ, was a non-medical member of the MCNZ (October 2019–June 2022). Mr Aston attempted to stop the witch hunt and the punitive overreach of the council against any doctors who raised a concern about the Covid-19 injection. Even as a lay person, he instinctively knew no medical procedure or vaccine can be called ZERO RISK, as the council chose to enforce as they parroted the Labour Government’s ‘safe and effective’ narrative.
He became an unpopular whistleblower.
Mr Aston voiced apprehension, to his detriment – he was forced to resign. Being ‘blacklisted’ by colleagues and the additional isolation that was imposed during the tyranny of Covid restrictions was inexcusable and a double whammy. Mr Aston, however, as a former member of the MCNZ, will be admired in this country for standing firm in his support for doctors.
Doctors can be struck off, but the threshold is supposed to be high. As I understand it, the reasons generally include:
- Serious Clinical Incompetence: Repeated failure to provide an acceptable standard of care, such as misdiagnosis, improper treatment or surgical errors that endanger patients.
- Criminal Offences: Convictions for serious crimes, such as assault, fraud, drug offenses or sexual misconduct, whether related to medical practice or not.
- Dishonesty or Fraud: Falsifying patient records, research data, qualifications, or financial claims (e.g., billing for services not provided).
- Inappropriate Relationships: Engaging in sexual or exploitative relationships with patients, which breaches professional boundaries.
- Substance Abuse: Practicing medicine while impaired by drugs or alcohol, compromising patient safety.
- Gross Ethical Violations: Performing unnecessary procedures or experimenting on patients without consent or breaching patient confidentiality.
- Failure to Maintain Professional Standards: Ignoring guidelines, refusing to engage in continuing education or neglecting patient welfare.
- Abusive Behaviour: Harassment, bullying, or discrimination toward patients, colleagues or staff.
- Neglecting Legal or Regulatory Duties: Failing to report concerns about colleagues, ignoring safeguarding issues, or practising without a valid license.
Dr Ratna’s case is an example of unfair treatment of someone who simply sought to honour the oath she took when she graduated and became a doctor.
First Do No Harm
