Dr White Censure Case
Re: Legality of Censuring & Ostracizing Employment based on giving professional expert opinions regarding Covid
Facts of the Case
- Dates: (Hearing) Nov 4 2021
- Location: Royal Courts of Justice, London, England
- Court: The High Court of Justice, Queen’s Bench Division Administrative Court
- Case #: CO/3095/2021
- Plaintiff: Dr. Sam White
- Defendant: The General Medical Council
- Trial Type: Decision Review of the Interim Orders Tribunal
- Judge: The Honourable Justice Dove
- Status: Final Ruling
- Verdict: For The Plaintiff
** This case was reviewed & edited by the plaintiff Dr White
Background
Dr. Sam White is a UK General Practitioner with over 17 years experience. He now practices independently in functional medicine. In 2020, he was working as a doctor and partner in a Hampshire medical practice. Shortly after the announcement of the pandemic he became concerned about the entire government narrative, and the medical measures being recommended by NHS England for Covid19. He felt it was antithetical to all of his prior understanding of what medicine is, and should be.
He realized that the testing was grossly unreliable and the agenda was moving very rapidly toward experimental anti-Covid immunization injections, referred to as vaccines- developed and brought onto the market under EUA (Emergency Use Authorization). Dr. White’s own research into these gene based therapies had led him to believe they were not safe or efficacious as advertised, and that to administer them to his patients would cause a personal ethical conflict with his doctor’s Hippocratic Oath to ‘first, do no harm’. There had never been a successful Coronavirus vaccine brought to market and the SARS-CoV-1 animal studies (in which all of the animals developed antibody dependent enhancement) had convinced him that the proposed vaccine schedule would be extremely dangerous. He did not want any part of it.
In these circumstances, Dr. White felt he had to resign from his practice in early 2021. He had already written detailed submissions on his research in his five year re-validation and re-licensing with the GMC in late 2020. He had said he would resign if experimental mRNA vaccines were introduced, while safe and proven therapeutics continued to be suppressed. Neither the NHS or GMC took any notice whatsoever and they certainly were not concerned about the content of what he had written. In April 2021, Dr White’s re-licensing for a further 5 years was approved by a ‘Responsible Officer’ acting on behalf of the GMC. Dr White’s concerns only became a problem for NHS England and the GMC when he subsequently posted a video on social media (see below) in June 2021 (1) explaining to the public why he resigned. Dr White’s reasons for resigning only became of concern to the regulator once over 1 million members of the public were privy to his views. Dr White was first suspended by NHS England by emergency order (by the same ‘Responsible Officer’ who just two months prior had recommended his re-licensing) and subsequently also by the GMC.
Among other reasons he explained that …
He could no longer work in his previous roles ‘because of the lies’ surrounding the NHS and government approach to the pandemic which have been ‘so vast’ he could no longer ‘stomach or tolerate’ them. He claimed doctors and nurses were ‘having their hands tied behind their backs’ preventing them from using treatments that had been established as being effective both as prophylaxis from Covid19 infections and as treatments for it.
Once this video went viral, both the NHS and GMC made allegations that Dr White might be suffering a profound mental health disorder and being disinhibited. They felt able to make such allegations, without any medical assessment whatsoever.
Dr White’s law firm wrote a complaint letter (3) to the Chief Executive of NHS England on 2nd July stating (among other points) that:
My client has instructed me to write to you setting out the complaint that he has been
victimized and harassed for telling the truth by the organization you head.
Clinicians should feel able to voice genuine concerns relating to alleged malpractice
without fear for their ability to practice within the NHS being suspended.
The truth that Dr White is telling may be uncomfortable for you to hear. But hear it you
must. I am instructed to copy this letter to the relevant regulators as well as law enforcement.
No reply was ever received to this letter.
Dr. White’s license to practice was later reinstated, but made conditional on a number of measures with instructions from the Interim Orders Tribunal (IOT) hearing on 17th Aug 2021. Prior to this hearing, Dr White had submitted hundreds of pages of evidence to the tribunal including both expert witness testimony and peer reviewed literature detailing all of the reasoning for each of his claims. By comparison, the GMC relied merely on 18 (out of over 1 million) anonymized complainants citing allegations of ‘misinformation-’ without any evidence that it was indeed, ‘misinformation.’ The IOT commenced proceedings that day by announcing that they were not there to determine ‘matters of fact.’ Despite this, they sided entirely with the GMC, repeating the claim that Dr White was citing misinformation.
These conditions required that he refrain from posting further information about his pandemic views on social media for a period of at least 18 months. The orders were vague and not specified. His solicitor sought clarification but this was denied.
The controversial conditions at the heart of the IOT to impose conditions on his registration were as follows:
“4. He must not use social media to put forward or share any views about the Covid-19 pandemic and its associated aspects.
5. He must seek to remove any social media posts he has been responsible for or has shared relating to his views of the Covid19 pandemic and its associated aspects.” (6)
In several respects, treatment by his professional body bore remarkable similarities to the fate of Swiss cardiologist, Dr. Thomas Binder, who spoke out in April 2020 and was arrested and subjected to a psychiatric examination while held in custody for one week (2 & 5).
Although Dr. White has fully explained, for example during testimony given to the German Corona Investigative Committee (4), that his views are evidence based and founded on his considerable scientific research, the GMC maintained that he was spreading misinformation that could present a risk to patients.
Significance
First case in the UK to overturn an illegal gag order placed on a UK doctor censured by his professional body for posting his scientifically researched views on the Covid crisis on social media.
Plaintiff’s (Claimant’s) Argument
Dr White’s lawyers, led by Francis Hoar instructed by PJH Law, appealed under Article 10 of the Human Rights Act 1998, which states that everyone has the right to freedom of expression, although the law may be subject to conditions or restrictions necessary in a democratic society. Surely doctors should never be silenced in a democratic society?
Dr White said: “If I lose my ability to speak freely, so will other doctors.” (5)
Important to understand is that the rights and wrongs of Dr. White’s treatment were argued not on the basis of the views he expressed but on the basis of his fundamental human right to free speech.
Defendant’s Argument
The GMC’s argument was represented by Alexis Hearnden
The defendants argument was based on the assertion that Dr. White was spreading ‘misleading information’ that could present a risk to patient health. This extract from the Judge’s summation of the court decision is illustrative of the content:
“- Through a social media video, Dr White spread misinformation and inaccurate details about the Coronavirus and how it is diagnosed and treated, including saying the vaccine is a form of genetic manipulation which can cause serious illness and death and that he advised against wearing masks. “
Relevant Prior Judgements
…More information is needed…
Decision
The judgement passed by The Honourable Justice Dove on 3rd Dec 2021 restored Dr White’s freedom of speech and the IOT conditions were nullified (5)
(See below for) Sam White’s video to his followers, 3rd Dec. 2021 (7)