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A Medical Council fitness-to-practise inquiry has heard from an expert in oncology that there was “no evidence” that masks, lockdown and social distancing saved any lives.
The inquiry is centred on allegations that Dr William Ralph of Ballagh Health Centre, Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, posted inappropriate tweets during the pandemic that were critical of and undermined public health guidelines
It heard evidence on Friday from Angus Dalgleish, professor of oncology at St George’s University of London, on behalf of Ralph.
Dalgleish said there was “anything but consensus” in 2020/2021 regarding the pandemic and that people were being told to “follow the science” but that there was no science being followed.
He said the pandemic did not need lockdowns and that herd immunity was important, but that views such as this were “shouted down”.
Ralph is alleged to have posted 34 tweets from October 17th, 2020, to June 16th, 2022, that were critical of several aspects of Covid-19 public health policy – including the vaccination of children, the wearing of face masks and lockdowns.
In addition, it was alleged that Ralph tweeted comments in which he promoted the use of ivermectin as a treatment for Covid-19.
Ralph, who represented himself, asked Dalgleish for his views on the outbreak of Covid-19 in February 2020 on the Diamond Princess, a cruise ship, which Ralph said appeared to indicate the virus affected people in an “age-stratified” manner.
Dalgleish said the Diamond Princess was “the perfect Petri dish” and that the episode demonstrated that Covid-19 was a respiratory airborne virus, that only a few people died, who were also in an at-risk category, with the average age being over 70.
He said the episode also showed there was no need for lockdowns. However, this view is contested by other experts.
Dalgleish said it was “absolutely not” wrong for a doctor to challenge the public health guidelines.
He said “children should never have been vaccinated” with Covid-19 vaccines, which he said had zero safety checks.
Dalgleish said ivermectin had very strong anti-influenza properties. He said if ivermectin had been accepted as a means of treating Covid-19 during the pandemic then there would have been no need for vaccines.
The committee, which last heard evidence in March, also reconvened to hear chair Paul Harkin ask questions of Ralph. Ralph told Harkin that, in hindsight, Twitter (now X) was “not the appropriate format to explain complex issues”.
When asked what his obligations were regarding his membership of a professional regulating body, Ralph said his first duty “is to my patients”.
A number of people were again in attendance at the inquiry on Friday in support of Ralph, including Dublin-based GP Marcus de Brun. De Brun was the subject of a fitness-to-practise inquiry last year in which it was alleged that between May 2020 and October 2021 he tweeted comments critical of Nphet and the State’s Covid-19 vaccination programme for children and young people.
The committee in that inquiry has yet to announce its findings.
At Friday’s inquiry the committee adjourned to May 18th, as a further witness that Ralph intended to call to give evidence, Dr Clare Craig, was unavailable