Anti-Vax Doctor Punished for Relentless Spread of Misinformation

In the end, Dr. Roger Hodkinson, one of world’s most high-profile contrarian COVID-19 medical “experts,” meekly submitted to the authority of the regulatory college he had vehemently derided for years as having no right to limit his dangerous public statements.

At a College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta disciplinary hearing in November, Hodkinson, a pathologist, admitted he was guilty of unprofessional conduct. The CPSA tribunal ruled he had made statements outside his scope of expertise, and that he had breached the college’s code of ethics.

Having accepted a joint submission on sanction, the college on Thursday issued what amounted to a slap on the wrist to Hodkinson — despite his energetic campaign against COVID public health measures that spread dangerous misinformation around the world, including through the translation into several languages by conspiracy theorists.

The CPSA issued a caution to Hodkinson, ordered him to complete an online course, at his own expense, from the Canadian Medical Association on influence and advocacy, and to pay $5,000 to cover a portion of the college’s investigation costs.

Hodkinson, who is from Edmonton, had developed a worldwide following among anti-COVID vaccine, anti-restriction conspiracy theorists and far-right politicians — including Alberta Premier Danielle Smith.

He made numerous appearances on fringe social media broadcasts and gave public speeches in which his Cambridge university education, and elite medical and University of Alberta association were invariably cited.

His pronouncements that COVID is no worse than a bad flu, that vaccines and masks are useless and that social distancing restrictions cause more harm than benefit were often cited in social media posts and angry emails to academics, government officials and journalists.

Smith interviewed Hodkinson as a host of the Western Standard podcast on March 23, 2021 about “Deplatformed Doctors,” — doctors that had expressed contrary views about COVID.

This was after Smith had left her Calgary talk show job, claiming she had been cancelled because of her views on COVID and other issues.

During the podcast, Smith said she had “asked if I could have Dr. Roger Hodkinson on my show after he gave his presentation to city council in Edmonton.” It was after that city council presentation that someone filed a complaint to the college against Hodkinson.

Smith said she and Western Standard founder Derek Fildebrandt wanted to put together a podcast with “conventional mainstream doctors, just so that you understood that there are conventional mainstream doctors as well who are concerned with the approach that the government has taken in its management of COVID.”

It’s not known why Hodkinson was allowed for years to undertake his campaign of misinformation but he was finally cited by the college after his appearance, as referenced by Smith, at the virtual public meeting held by an Edmonton city council committee on Nov. 13, 2020.

The committee had sought public input over whether to extend the city’s mask bylaw, which council eventually did.

The college also alleged he made other similar public statements between April 9 and 14, 2021.

In a video from the Edmonton city council hearing that is still circulating on social media, Hodkinson, in high dudgeon, asserts that masks are utterly useless, there is no evidence whatsoever of their effectiveness and that the public is being led down the garden path by the province’s chief medical officer of health.

The CPSA hearing tribunal also quoted Hodkinson as saying the COVID-19 vaccine “is first of all unnecessary. Secondly, it’s reckless in terms of how it’s being introduced because it’s certainly not been shown to be safe.

“Anyone that is saying that this vaccine is safe without any qualification is guilty, in my opinion, if they’re in medicine, of medical malpractice.

“Let me state emphatically again: nothing works to control the spread of this virus.”

At his hearing in November, Hodkinson, 80, appeared resigned, in sharp contrast to his previous aggressive behaviour on social media.

Talking about medical professionals who disagreed with his assessment that COVID posed no threat to public health, Hodkinson told one podcast, “I am full of vengeance. I am vengeful. It’s not a time to say I’m sorry. It’s time to put these bastards in jail. I’m calling it the Big Kill.”

Hodkinson did not respond to an interview request for this, and a previous, story.

But after the publication of the March 2024 story, Hodkinson, in an email, told this reporter he had read the “slanderous” story and was “glad I didn’t rise to your bait for an ‘interview’ — I smelled a rat. If it smells like a rat and writes like a rat it must be a rat,” he wrote.

“I suggest you simply put on your glasses and read the evidence-based medical literature before ingratiating yourself with the state’s expectations,” Hodkinson wrote.

The March 2024 story quoted University of Alberta law and health professor Tim Caulfield, an expert in health misinformation on social media.

Caulfield said the small group of so-called experts like Hodkinson have had a huge impact on public discourse. He said Hodkinson was often cited in the voluminous amount of hate mail he receives from COVID conspiracy theorists.

“You should be ashamed of yourself,” Hodkinson wrote in his email to this reporter. “[You are] just a pathetic sycophantic shill for Caulfield, the widely discredited and very non-expert who is so desperately trying to find reasons to justify his academic position!”

There is no basis for calling Caulfield discredited.

But Hodkinson has more to tell this reporter: “You, sir, money grubber par excellence, are part of the problem. But guess what? Mud in your eye — we’re winning!”

Caulfield said Thursday he is glad the college did something, even if only symbolic.

“In the current political climate, it is good that they issued a sanction. It makes the point that he was wrong. But, given the gravity of the situation, the penalty seems light. And will it discourage future misinformation mongers?

“This isn’t about censorship — as often framed by those wanting to push misinformation. This is about professional standards and an obligation to the public.”

If you have any information for this story, or information for another story, please contact Charles Rusnell in confidence via email.