Calgary Doctor's Office Raided By Regulators Searching For Vaccine Exemption Files
The office of Dr. Dan Botha, a doctor who has been practicing medicine in Calgary for the past 25 years, was raided last Thursday morning by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta (CPSA). The CPSA was searching for the files of people for whom Dr. Botha granted COVID vaccine exemptions.
In an exclusive interview with Melanie Ridson, a Calgary-based reporter for the Western Standard, Dr. Botha explained,
"They walked in this morning just after 8 a.m. and asked to do an inspection and review of my patient records for the last 180 days. They wanted to know if I had written any exemption letters for the vaccine or masks or had been prescribing Ivermectin to my patients."
Dr. Dan Botha
There were two of them, both CPSA staff members, one was an administrator and the other one was a doctor. Dr. Botha was handed a one-page letter requesting that he provide access to his patient files for the inspectors "under section 53.1 of the Health Professions Act (HPA)."
Ridson explains the nature of the letter,
"The letter indicated the inspection was to "ensure the issuance of medical exemptions for vaccination against COVID-19 are in adherence to the provincial vaccination exemption program, medical exemptions for face masks are in adherence to provincial public health orders, and the prescribing of Ivermectin is in adherence with CPSA Standards of Practice."
Melanie Ridson - Journalist
Up to this point, Dr. Botha had written two exemptions. A vaccine exemption for a cancer patient and a mask exemption for a child with Rett syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder that affects the way the brain develops, causing a progressive loss of motor skills and speech.
"Dr. Botha said his cancer patient was undergoing treatment and he had provided the patient with a three-month vaccine exemption until treatments were finished and the patient’s health could be reassessed. He also said he provided a permanent mask exemption to a child he is treating with Rett Syndrome."
Melanie Ridson - Journalist
He had also prescribed Ivermectin to one patient with apparent success. But this was before the government banned the ability for doctors to prescribe it.
Dr. Botha has been a physician for 38 years and has never experienced anything like this. One of his patients, Jeffrey Rath, is a lawyer and is suing the the CPSA over vaccine mandates. It just so happens that Rath's file was one of the 29 "randomly selected" patients the CPSA decided to review.
"The CPSA just raided my doctor's office and illegally accessed my own personal medical file without my consent. My GP called me to inform me that the CPSA had stormed his office this morning, under section 53 of the Health Act, to 'randomly review some of his patient files' and it just so happened that my file was one they randomly chose. I am completely appalled by the CPSA investigators, including Jason MacDonald and Dr. Jeff Robinson, that they would think it’s appropriate to access the private medical file of an officer of the court who is engaged in litigation on behalf of my clients with the CPSA."
Jeffrey Rath, lawyer
The mother of the child with Rett syndrome was also furious over access to information that they thought would remain completely private. She is currently in touch with Rath and contemplating legal action as a result of the raid.
The Western Standard contacted the CPSA for comment and was provided with this statement from a CPSA spokeswoman:
"Under Part 3.1 of the Health Professions Act (HPA), CPSA has the authority to conduct unannounced on-site clinic inspections to confirm that physicians adhere to our Standards of Practice. These are being facilitated when a certain threshold is breached."
"As we’ve seen an increase in the number of concerns submitted from both regulated members and Albertans during the pandemic, CPSA felt it was important to take this approach, to ensure patients across the province are receiving safe and competent care that is compliant with public health measures."
"There are a number of outcomes that can occur from these inspections, such as a referral to CPSA’s Continuing Competence team for an educational intervention, or to the Professional Conduct department in cases where allegations of unprofessional conduct are substantiated. A practice restriction can be imposed on a physician’s practice permit in a number of different ways under the HPA, including as a result of an inspection. A practice restriction on a physician’s practice permit is public information available on the physician’s profile on the CPSA website.”