Gaslit, Injured, Silenced: A Gisborne Anaethetist’s Feedback to the Royal Commission of Inquiry

23 April 2025

Dr Leigh Willoughby

Dear Members of the Royal Commission,

I was Head of Anaesthesia at Gisborne Hospital through the Covid-19 pandemic preparations. I worked hard to prepare an antiquated infrastructure and under-resourced service for the perceived crisis that lay ahead. I took the threat very seriously and although I had reservations about the nature of the Covid-19 injection, I trusted those who I believed were more knowledgeable than myself and presented myself for vaccination out of duty of my patients and colleagues in June 2021. I felt unable at the time to appraise myself of the literature because I was overwhelmed by a number of other pressing pre-existing issues that were threatening our service.

I had two injections 3 weeks apart. There was no informed consent. In August 2021 I was incapacitated by a sudden complete occlusion (blockage) of my superior mesenteric vein (SMV). My colleagues in the ED could not understand why I would have catastrophic levels of abdominal pain as I was previously fit and well, working demanding hours, frequently out-of-hours in the ED. I wasn’t on any medication, had no chronic conditions and had never had a clot of any kind. I presented close to collapse with no recordable blood pressure and needed heavy duty intravenous pain killers for the first time in my life just to be able to tolerate the CT scan.

The contrast CT was interpreted by a radiologist in Queensland who has a vascular radiology fellowship. The diagnosis was clear on the report and the other findings – extremely swollen small intestine and free fluid in the peritoneal cavity were in keeping with the consequences of the lack of flow in my SMV.

Clotting off the superior mesenteric vein is a rare occurrence which is usually only seen in those with inflammation in the retroperitoneum for example, in chronic pancreatitis or chronic surgical sepsis. I had no risk factors for this and was subsequently found to have no clotting tendency or blood disorder.

After several hours of a heparin infusion and hydration, flow returned to the vessel and my pain subsided. Curiously, the surgical team who had consulted with the vascular team at Waikato, came to me and told me that the scan had been interpreted incorrectly. My anticoagulants were stopped, I was sent for a doppler ultrasound which apparently did not show any clot and I was discharged without any further treatment or follow up.

The event I experienced was simply dismissed and I was gaslit by my colleagues. Fortunately my GP agreed that I should probably take aspirin. I spent many hours trying to comprehend why I would have such an event. It took me 2 weeks to be able to eat normally as my gut was in shock and I spent many weeks overwhelmed with anxiety that I could not rationalise due to the autonomic injury I sustained.

I had an independent interpretation done of my scan as I was certain the original report was correct and completely explained my presentation and my subsequent slow recovery. The radiologist confirmed that the original report was correct. The motive for dismissing the skills of an expert in this field remains unknown. It also fits with the fact that 3 years later, I experienced a recurrence of the blockage which led to a further presentation in October 2024. The team now believe I have a persistent SMV thrombosis and that it never completely disappeared. I am now on anticoagulants for life. Interestingly the doppler ultrasound on this occasion was unable to visualise my SMV.

The clotting consequences of the Covid injections are now well recognised. I was able to establish the mechanism of this injury early after my hospitalisation in 2021 as information was flowing from doctors and scientists around the world. Yet the messaging from the government and health “experts” was and still is, that the injections are safe and effective. Pfizer’s own data in their 3 month Post-Authorisation Adverse Event Reports clearly list numerous thrombotic events affecting every part of the circulation.

I reported my event to CARM – as an individual and as a medical professional. I was not contacted nor was I notified of any investigation undertaken.

The constituents of the Pfizer injection cause wide-ranging harms to the cardiovascular, immune and neurological systems through demonstrable mechanisms of biochemical and cellular toxicity. Having read the literature evidence of this, I declined to have the booster. No man or woman should be asked to put their life on the line for their profession. As a result of this decision I was unable to practice Anaesthesia, I lost my income and we had to sell our home.

Based on these experiences, I have these recommendations:

1. Commercial interests, no matter how lucrative, must not dictate government statute or policy, professional regulation or media interests. The Pfizer contract has driven the wholesale abandonment of all previously upheld moral and ethical principles and the silencing of those who stand as guardians for the public – health professionals. I recommend a wide-ranging investigation of the Medical Council of New Zealand – the leadership, their overlords, their conflicts of interest and actions in relation to the pandemic as they set the tone for all regulators, prohibiting professionals speaking out when they had concerns by threatening disciplinary action and loss of license.

2. No medical intervention should ever be mandatory to maintain employment. It is high time we acknowledge that immunisations offer limited protection to the individual, not other people and it should be left to personal choice alone. There has never been any ethical principle whereby an individual must have a medical intervention to protect another. Threatening loss of income is the most shameful form of coercion.

3. The government and regulators must never again insert themselves between doctor and patient. Exemptions should never have been necessary and no single official should ever have been given sole responsibility for granting them. The nonsense that ensued beggars belief – people who had suffered an anaphylactic reaction were forced to have the injection again. If I knowingly injected a patient a second time with something that caused anaphylaxis I would be struck off.

4. Balanced media and true investigative journalism is a basic requirement of an open and honest society. Using the media as a mouthpiece to push the commercial interests of Big Pharma through fear-based behavioural psychology tactics and coercion is the hallmark of communism. “Safe and Effective” propaganda and the MCNZ’s edict in 2021 led to my vascular event being ignored and thousands of injured kiwis similarly disregarded.

5. Introduction of a new genetic treatment technology that has never been authorised for human use should be done with utmost caution and rigorous reporting of adverse events with full transparency. CARM has been demonstrated to be an inept, token reporting system that is a far cry from the robust process that should have been in place. The persistent denial of any concern regarding the Covid-19 vaccine has led to the realisation by the population that they have essentially been used as lab rats.

Because of these events, New Zealand is on the brink of total collapse – trust in government, crown entities, media and judiciary has been lost; many people will never trust health professionals again; the current health infrastructure is overwhelmed; professionals are leaving in droves; every layer of society has been detrimentally affected; businesses have been destroyed; families split apart and people have died. The percentage of disabled individuals in NZ jumped up 8% last year. Please take your privilege of being on the RCI as an opportunity to display courage, integrity and work to put these matters right.

Thank you for including and using my feedback.

Yours faithfully,

Dr Leigh Willoughby
Woman, Mother, Wife, Healthcare Practitioner, Ex-anaesthetist, Business Owner