A former GP issued nearly 300 dodgy medical certificates claiming patients were unsuitable for the Covid-19 vaccine, an investigation has found.
The certificates were issued by the anti-vax doctor in late 2021 after health authorities mandated the vaccine for certain jobs and activities amid the Delta outbreak of Covid-19.
Canterbury doctor Jonie Girouard was first exposed for issuing the certificates in December 2021 as part of a hidden camera investigation by Newshub.
Girouard has since resigned from the Royal NZ College of General Practitioners and left the country. She had run a weight loss clinic as a doctor before she left the country.
The former GP and her practice have been under investigation by the Health and Disability Commissioner (HDC), who issued its findings and recommendations today.
Girouard "issued 282 medical certificates to patients indicating that, on the basis of their medical conditions, it would be inappropriate or unsuitable for those patients to be vaccinated with the Covid-19 vaccine," according to the HDC.
"In many of those cases there were no medical conditions — as claimed on the certificates.
"Also there was no documented evidence that Doctor A provided any evidence-based information about the vaccine to assist patients make informed decisions about it."
Commissioner Morag McDowell said it was "clear" that the doctor "provided medical certificates that stated that the vaccination was unsuitable/inappropriate based on medical conditions, where there were no medical conditions".
"Medical certificates are legal documents. They have implications for the person receiving and relying on the certificate and, as such, it is crucial that they are completed honestly, accurately and objectively, using relevant evidence.
"In my view, Doctor A did not adhere to this statement."
Girounard's name was made anonymous on privacy grounds in the HDC's public findings.
The commissioner acknowledged a medical certificate advising against vaccination may be appropriate "in some circumstances".
She also noted that Girouard "made the limitations of the medical certificates clear" and "highlighted the fact they were not formal vaccine exemptions".
One person who complained about Girouard's practice told investigators that her son was charged $60 for a consultation on the vaccine and $20 for a medical certificate.
During the hidden camera investigation into her clinic, the doctor reportedly told an undercover journalist to "become a salesman" in explaining the certificate.
According to Newshub, she said: "When they ask you for it say 'here you go and when they say 'well what is this' that's when you explain what it is."
"Do your spiel. You say 'I've been using it all over the place, no one's had a problem'.
"You sell it, you become a salesman okay. They don't know what they're doing, you gotta coach them."
Speaking to the reporter, she claimed the Pfizer vaccine was "horrible, horrible medicine".
In her investigation, McDowell found the former GP, who held in-person consultations while being unvaccinated, breached the rights of consumers to have services that comply with legal, professional, ethical, and other relevant standards.
"I consider that for consumers who were issued medical certificates by Doctor A or seen in person by Doctor A at this time, this right was not upheld.
"The standards and law relevant to this case were vital to support the public health response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and I am critical that they were not adhered to."
The commissioner also found that the clinic breached the same right by allowing the GP to see patients against the mandate order.
Girouard's application for an official vaccination exemption had been rejected by the Ministry of Health.
Complaint made by mother regarding teen
The HDC's investigation was launched following a complaint by the mother of a 17-year-old who received a medical certificate from Girouard's clinic. The teenager was charged $60 for the consultation and $20 for the certificate on November 8, 2021.
According to in-house clinical advice to the commissioner: "[The mother] expressed concern that her son, who had just turned 17 years old, had been provided with a certificate from Doctor A deeming him unsuitable for Covid vaccination.
"Her son was not a patient of Doctor A, and Doctor A had no access to his clinical notes. [The mother] stated her son had a long history of health issues including asthma and pneumonia and the remainder of his family was fully vaccinated against Covid.
"[The mother] was of the view that the family of her son’s partner, who were anti-vaccination, had persuaded [her son] to seek a certificate exempting him from vaccination and Doctor A had provided this certificate without due cause.
"[The mother] notes the certificates have no lasting validity and Doctor A is charging a significant fee for provision of the certificates."
The mother complained to the HDC on November 11, 2021.
SHARE ME