When Conscience Becomes a Crime: The NZ Ministry of Health’s War on Ethical Doctors

Over half of New Zealand doctors receive their medical training overseas. Up until the last several years, the majority of New Zealand doctors came from the UK, South Africa, or America. The Medical Council of New Zealand, by statutory definition, has no role whatsoever in the training of the majority of doctors in New Zealand or in the acquisition of their skills and qualifications. They basically issue certificates of compliance and assure conformity of thought.

The role of the Medical Council is established by a civil law known as the Health Practitioner’s Competency and Assurance Act 2003. The breach of a civil law is a civil offence (not a criminal one).  The Medical Council of New Zealand provides a registry and an Annual Practicing Certificate (APC) for doctors upon payment of their annual fee, acknowledgement that they have met annual requirements for continuing medical education and not offended any sacred cows.  Practicing medicine without an APC (expired or otherwise) by an otherwise competent doctor, is a misdemeanor civil violation. It generally carries similar weight to operating a motor vehicle with an expired drivers’ license. Not only is it a “victimless crime”, it does not even rise to the level of a crime in the absence of tangible harm and should never carry a criminal conviction. It is punished usually with a fine or censure, unless the perpetrator has caused actual harm to another individual. Charges should generally reflect the gravity of the act and shape the legal process that follows and inform the expected legal actions and potential defences that may be employed.

 A criminal charge usually carries heavier penalties, possibly including jail, due to the implication of a more substantial gravity of offence and danger to public health, safety or welfare. There are two primary components of a crime: 1) Mens Rea: that is guilty mind/intent to commit a crime 2. Actus Reus: a guilty act (implicitly resulting in harm to another). A criminal charge will often preclude a doctor from practicing medicine or even traveling overseas to many countries.

The landmark case, as acknowledged by the Medical Council, is M. Wislang v MCNZ (see “History of the Medical Council”) which was appealed to the Privy Council [2004, UKPC 59]. Dr Wislang had practiced from 1994-1998 without an APC (4 years).  He was fined, suspended for 2 months, and had conditions placed on his practice upon reinstatement of his APC. He was not, at any point, charged with a crime. There were no allegations that he had actually harmed anyone. As a highly skilled academic, he disputed the need for a “mentor” as one of the conditions.

Professor Lois Surgenor and her team have studied the characteristics and outcomes of criminal convictions of disciplined Health Practitioners in New Zealand. These convictions were over represented by males. Crimes against property rights, sexual morality, and misuse of drugs accounted for about 65% of the convictions [J Law medicine 2022, March 29 (1); 117-128]. A criminal conviction was very likely to result in cancellation of registration and a resultant loss in career and opportunities. 

In 2003, Jonathan Scragg QC commenting on the Cull report in the Canterbury Law review (37), acknowledged at that time (as reported by A Paltridge in the Evening Post Wellington NZ 10 Dec 2001 “health system ill from complaint culture”) that “New Zealand is one of the most – if not the most hostile practising environments for doctors in the world”. It would seem to us that nothing has changed in the last 2 decades.

The NZ Covid ‘Error’ response has exponentially magnified the public distrust and dissatisfaction in the NZ medical system beyond what was publicly acknowledged in 2001. As a result, many NZ doctors have either sought practice opportunities elsewhere or retired. The NZ “Covid-19 Public Health Response Act 2020” was repealed November 26, 2024. Unfortunately, the MCNZ has not relented in persecuting doctors of conscience who resisted or opposed the government’s vaccine mandate and the vaccination order December 2021.

We note (NZ Optics 27 January 2025) that New Zealand has an unprecedented backlog in needed cataract surgery with 8496 on the current waitlist. It should be noted here that the Ministry of Health is directly responsible for ending the NZ ophthalmology careers of two exemplary eye doctors (Drs Deepak Gupta and Phillip Macdonald: to the significant detriment of their communities and the people waiting for eye surgery in Otago and Hawkes Bay respectively).  There was no allegation of any harm to a patient, drug use, or moral hazard. They are both, personally and professionally, impeccable individuals. The Ophthalmology Times of Europe reported (by David Hutton April 2022) that “Ophthalmologists in New Zealand disciplined for not following Covid-19 mandates”. This has clearly not been in the best interest of the people of New Zealand. The Ministry of Health, in state run media RNZ 29 March 2022, publicly urged patients to snitch on these doctors (and some did.)

Not only did patients (and other health professionals) snitch on the doctors but the government used the QR code information for purposes other than contact tracing. Note: An addendum with further details on this is included at the end of the post.

Chris Hipkins has stated publicly “there were no mandates” in an attempt to distance himself (and Labour) from the Covid debacle. We believe that Drs Gupta and Macdonald, and all the others who resisted government tyranny for the sake of ethics and conscience, will be vindicated and shown to be on the right side of history. In fact, they already have been, but the news hasn’t reached the NZ government yet; or is it just willful blindness born of corruption? In our view, all of the people, of all professions, who lost their jobs and suffered impoverishment due to the NZ government Covid Error response, should be pardoned and compensated for lost earnings and in some cases, also loss of reputation.

It became apparent during the Covid Error that NZ government regulators are political propaganda operatives whose primary agenda is to control the public narrative for the sake of the corporations in various ministerial portfolios. This has been achieved by censoring all dissenting opinions in medicine through economic terrorism (threat to medical practice/occupation). We would be terribly naive to think that the NZ Law Society was not in possession of the same political levers to control the legal profession and facilitate judicial outcomes favourable to corporations that are favoured by Parliament. It is no accident that there is frequent cross-pollination between the MCNZ and the NZLS with the likes of David Dunbar, Jonathan Coates and others.

We are therefore underwhelmed by the legal reasoning and arguments of Justices Earwalker and Boldt regarding Dr Macdonald. They both failed to acknowledge Te Tiriti 1840; He Whakaputanga 1835; The Imperial Laws Application Act; various High Court and Supreme Court rulings acknowledging the separate legal and lawful framework of Tikanga, and even the rules and principles of Equity and section 18 of High Court Rules. They failed to acknowledge the fundamental human right to refuse medical treatment (NZBORA 1990 and HR Act 1993).   Prior to the Covid Error, these were foundational principles of law in New Zealand. They failed to acknowledge that Dr Macdonald had harmed no one and was acting as a matter of conscience. Having a conscience should never be a crime. In our observation, they simply sacrificed an excellent ophthalmologist on the altar of parliament while their nation is going blind.

It seems that the New Zealand “Crown” now has little or no visible indication of an independent judiciary. This would explain many of the rulings affecting NZDSOS as well.  We seemingly have only Parliament and the handmaidens of Parliament. In the bigger picture, Parliament itself would seem to be nothing more than the handmaiden of MBIE and the corporations making deals with MBIE. When the machinery of government is controlled by corporations, this is known as corporate fascism, or “Corporatism” as coined by Mussolini. It is time to open our eyes.