Toronto Physician Dr. Ira Bernstein, co-founder of the Canadian Covid Care Alliance, is being investigated by the province’s medical regulator.
Shae Greenfield, a spokesman for the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, confirmed the investigation Friday, but said he could not release further details.
Bernstein, who runs a family practice on Lawrence Ave. W in Toronto, co-founder of the Canadian Covid Care Alliance, has a group known for spreading misinformation against vaccines and promoting unproven COVID-19 treatments, such as ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine.
Bernstein is Head of Family Practice, Mental Health, at Humber River Hospital, and a member of the Family Practice Executive Committee. He is also a Deputy Clinical Lecturer at the University of Toronto Medical School.
Bernstein is linked to Canadian Covid Telehealth, a secret prescribing network that prescribed the Star ivermectin, despite scientific evidence that it does not work.
In a video of a November 2021 speech, Bernstein announced the creation of the service.
“We are going against the regulators, and the agencies are all fighting against us,” Bernstein said. “Health Canada does not approve of it. “They issued a statement against ivermectin, which is not based on any credible science.”
Bernstein could not be reached immediately for comment Thursday.
Canadian Covid Telehealth’s listed address is consistent with Bernstein’s Toronto exercise.
In a joint email to the Star last week, Bernstein and other Canadian Covid Telehealth leadership said their “healthcare professionals provide evidence-based services that have been proven in many clinical trials to reduce the risk of hospitalization and death. What is disturbing is that most Canadian patients could not have access to early outpatient COVID care elsewhere. ”
Two other doctors were reprimanded this week, the college revealed.
The college on Thursday met dr. Christopher Hassell, a Richmond Hill doctor who was banned from issuing vaccine releases, was suspended after he allegedly drew crowds asking for $ 50 for it last fall. Hassell will not be able to practice medicine until the suspension is lifted, the college said.
Hassell runs Angel’s Heart Medical with dr. Patrick Phillips, another doctor in Ontario who is restricted from prescribing ivermectin and giving vaccine releases. Angel’s Heart, which describes itself as “caring physicians and a network of allied healers,” was started in 2020 after Phillips first faced sanctions from the medical regulator, according to its website.
The college said that it also includes the doctor from Toronto, dr. Akbar Khan, limited to prescribing ivermectin and providing vaccine releases. Khan is a co-founder of Medicor Cancer Centers, an organization that provides “naturopathic and off-label therapies” to cancer patients. He faces additional restrictions on his license from 2017, which limits his ability to provide chemotherapy.
The college is investigating more than 40 doctors for COVID-19 misconduct, including the promotion of unproven treatments such as ivermectin and the issuance of inappropriate exemptions, and has restricted or suspended the licenses of eight.
Ivermectin, an anti-parasitic drug, has risen as a prescribed COVID-19 cure amid fraudulent research and endorsements by celebrities like podcaster Joe Rogan.
On his Twitter account, @ DocIra4Health, Bernstein asked Canadians to sign a petition calling on the federal government and Health Canada to “review and make available the ivermectin data for COVID-19 to address the pandemic” help combat and save lives. “
The Canadian Covid Care Alliance describes itself as a “movement of independent Canadian scientists and physicians who provide top-quality, balanced, evidence-based information to educate the Canadian public about COVID-19.”
A recent alliance video called “The Pfizer Inoculations Do More Harm Than Good,” which makes numerous false claims about the vaccine’s safety, has more than 1.6 million views on Rumble, a Canadian streaming platform for “content creators being smothered elsewhere,” as described by his CEO.
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Reference-www.thestar.com