Mark Slapinski
An Ontario doctor is under fire for sharing a video of Alex Jones making outrageous claims (that were later debunked) on vaccines. In the video, right-wing pundit Alex Jones claims “in the first few weeks alone, thousands of people died and [Pfizer] knowingly covered it up.” Jones cites a report titled, Cumulative Analysis of Post-authorization Adverse Event Reports.
Dr. Patrick Phillips practices medicine out of Engelhart, Ont. Unlike the majority of doctors, Dr. Phillips has taken a strong stance against COVID-19 health measures, including masks, vaccines, and lockdowns. Previously Dr. Phillips likened public health measures to the Holocaust. On Thursday, Patrick Phillips shared a clip of Alex Jones claiming mass vaccinations were a “premeditated attack” and an attempt at depopulation.
The tweet is archived here.
The claims in the video were later debunked by fact-checkers. VAERS is often misused by anti-vaxxers (and the adjacent) to scare people away from vaccines. According to a report published by McGill University in Montreal: “the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System or VAERS is being misused by anti-vaxxers to terrify the public. It’s a shame because VAERS plays a vital role in detecting important but rare reactions caused by vaccines.” Regulatory bodies in Canada state that vaccines are “safe and effective.”
Despite this apparent misrepresentation, Dr. Patrick Phillips has not removed the post, and Twitter has not removed the offending video from its platform. According to Twitter’s own policies, the platform prohibits “false or misleading information about COVID-19 which may lead to harm.”
It is notable that Alex Jones has a history of getting stories wrong. Jones previously claimed that Sandy Hook was a “false flag” attack. Recently, a judge in Connecticut found Mr. Jones liable by default after he “refused to turn over documents ordered by the courts, including financial records.”
In addition, Dr. Phillips is already in trouble with the medical college for making “misleading” statements on COVID-19. He risks losing his job. According to an article by the Canadian Press:
The college alleges that between August 2020 and this month, Phillips engaged in disgraceful, dishonourable or unprofessional conduct in his communications regarding the pandemic, including on social media.
It alleges that included making misleading, incorrect or inflammatory statements on COVID-19 vaccines, treatments and public health measures.
While Dr. Phillips has not been barred from practicing medicine, he has been ordered not to prescribe ivermectin, fluvoxamine, and atorvastatin to treat COVID-19. He has created a fundraiser on GiveSendGo after his original GoFundMe was deleted. In response to his original fundraiser being shut down, Dr. Phillips stated he was “grateful” for the support he received. Dr. Phillip’s current fundraiser is at $41,888 at the time of writing.
Despite being labelled a “conspiracy theorist” and a “fake news fraud,” Alex Jones still enjoys a great deal of attention. Recently Tucker Carlson described Alex Jones as a journalist, better than “NBC News national correspondent Ken Dilanian or Margaret Brennan of CBS.” This prompted swift backlash from left-leaning news sources, with reporter Aaron Blake of the Washington Post calling Tucker’s comments “ridiculous.”
UPDATE: the article was updated on Dec. 4 to indicate that the claims made by Alex Jones were debunked by fact-checkers. Read more about our editorial standards.
