The doctor, who has interim name suppression, was charged by the Ministry of Health with 19 offences under the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 (HPCA).
Thirteen charges alleged he claimed to be a health practitioner when he did not hold a current practising certificate. Another alleged that he used a title indicating he was a registered physician.
Five charges alleged that he performed a “restricted activity” - clinical procedures – while not registered.
Judge Richard Earwaker found him guilty of all charges after a trial in the Napier District Court which received evidence from people the doctor had treated.
Judge Earwaker’s reserved written decision says that a pharmacy contacted the Medical Council after it received prescriptions from the doctor using a registration number prefixed with the initials WHC.
The same pharmacy later received a letter from the WHC saying that it was the “Health Authority under sovereign native customary title”.
The letter said the HPCA Act governing health practitioners’ registrations “has no authority in our jurisdiction and is not recognised in Ture Tikanga (Māori customary law)”.
“As a WHC registered physician.... [the doctor] has full prescribing rights. You can lawfully continue to dispense prescriptions,” the letter said.
No challenge to qualifications or experience
Judge Earwaker said that the doctor had practised medicine for about 30 years. There was no challenge to his qualifications or experience.
He chose not to get a Covid-19 vaccination.
“The Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 changed how [the doctor] was required to practise,” Judge Earwaker said.
“He said he found it a very stressful and confusing time.
“He said when the vaccines were being developed, he studied it in great detail,” the judge said.
Doctor in ‘ethical dilemma’
“In short, [the doctor] said he found himself in an ethical dilemma. The research caused him to be extremely concerned about the safety of the vaccine and the adequacy of the testing regime.
“He did not believe the vaccine for coronavirus was a valid and efficacious vaccine.
“He was not willing to take the vaccine himself nor was he willing to advise patients to.”
The doctor registered with the WHC on October 30, 2021, and his registration with the Medical Council ceased on January 25, 2022.
The doctor told his trial that he had been advised by the WHC that Māori common law and principles of tikanga were accepted as “a separate strand of New Zealand law” that had been ratified by the High Court.
“He maintains that he took all reasonable steps to confirm that the WHC was bona fide and a genuine legal alternative to the Medical Council,” Judge Earwaker said.
However, the judge said that for the defence argument to succeed, he would need to accept that the WHC was entitled to register health practitioners under the principle of tikanga as recognised by common law.
“There is no such evidence before me, nor could there be, as the WHC did not hold and has never held such authority,” he said.
The judge said the WHC sought to utilise the principles of tikanga to set itself up as an alternative health authority in response to the Covid 19 pandemic.
“However, tikanga cannot usurp the clear provisions of the HPCA Act.”
Judge Earwaker said that the doctor’s belief he could lawfully practice under the WHC registration was a “mistake of law”.
He was not satisfied that the doctor took all reasonable steps to ensure that the offending did not occur.
He found the doctor guilty of all the charges laid against him.
Ric Stevens spent many years working for the former New Zealand Press Association news agency, including as a political reporter at Parliament, before holding senior positions at various daily newspapers. He joined NZME’s Open Justice team in 2022 and is based in Hawke’s Bay. His writing in the crime and justice sphere is informed by four years of front-line experience as a probation officer.
