Dublin GP found guilty of professional misconduct over Covid vaccine social media posts

Seán McCárthaigh

A GP and former member of the Medical Council has been found guilty of professional misconduct over posts on social media during the pandemic, which were highly critical of Covid-19 vaccines and public health guidelines.

A fitness-to-practise committee of the Medical Council also found allegations of professional misconduct proven against Marcus de Brun over his attendance and comments made at a public rally in August 2020 when he failed to maintain social distancing and wear a facemask.

The married father of four who had operated his own practice in Rush, Co Dublin claimed he had only turned to social media after his attempts to raise his concerns with the Medical Council were “flatly dismissed and ignored.”

While accepting their findings, he told the committee that the inquiry had not been “an honest hearing.”

Calling for a public inquiry into the State’s handling of the pandemic, Dr de Brun said he honestly believed that the Government and regulatory authorities “have blood on their hands.”

The ruling followed a medical inquiry held over seven days since last September into ten separate counts of professional misconduct against Dr de Brun over his criticism of vaccines, lockdowns and facemasks as well as the National Public Health Emergency Team and the medical profession.

Most of the allegations related to 67 posts by the GP on Twitter (now X) between May 2020 and October 2021.

In a ruling on Thursday, the committee found seven allegations of professional misconduct proven, including four for which the actions of Dr de Brun were considered both “disgraceful and dishonourable” and falling seriously short of the standards expected of doctors.

Such findings related to his posts about Covid-19 vaccines, particularly in relation to children, lockdowns and his attendance at a public rally at the Customs House in Dublin on August 22, 2020, which was attended by up to 7,000 people.

In one tweet, Dr de Brun claimed giving healthy children a genetic-based vaccine was “the greatest crime against humanity that this century has witnessed so far.”

In another post, the GP implied that parents bringing their children for vaccines was a form of child abuse.

The inquiry chairperson, Deirdre Murphy, said some of the GP’s comments were “grossly irresponsible” given his status as a doctor, while some posts were “deliberately emotive, misguided and reckless.”

She said other posts about the vaccination programme, which included references to “genocide” and “State-sanctioned euthanasia” were “highly inappropriate and, on occasion, offensive.”

Prof Murphy said the committee was also disappointed that Dr de Brun, during the inquiry, had stood over comments “which should form no part of proper medical discourse.”

She claimed posts which suggested lockdowns were unnecessary and introduced for some nefarious purposes were “very concerning.”

Public rally

The committee said it was “troubling” that the GP had posted “in a rather boastful manner” about his hands being sore from all the handshakes he got at the public rally when he was treating patients in his own surgery less than 48 hours later.

Prof Murphy described his behaviour at the gathering as “completely and utterly unacceptable.”

Overall, the inquiry found a total of 35 tweets had contravened the Guide to Professional Conduct and Ethics for Registered Medical Practitioners in relation to the use of social media.

Prof Murphy said the committee had considered each tweet in its individual context and the status of the pandemic as well as levels of restrictions and guidelines in place at the time.

Although he had subsequently sought to qualify his remarks, she said it was “striking” that Dr de Brun had publicly acknowledged during the inquiry that he had used Twitter to undermine public health guidelines at a time when he should have known the public would attach weight to the views of a medical practitioner.

Prof Murphy said he had sought to give additional credence to his posts by highlighting that he was also a qualified microbiologist.

She said doctors had a responsibility to ensure their words and actions on public health matters, particularly during a health crisis, were accurate, evidence-based, not misleading and not undermining responses to a public health emergency.

The committee made no findings in relation to Dr de Brun’s tweets about his promotion of the use of ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine to treat Covid-19, as well as on the relationship between Covid-19 vaccines and an increase in forms of cancer.

Although the committee found the GP’s posts criticising the use of facemasks breached guidelines on the use of social media, Prof Murphy said they did not amount to professional misconduct.

However, she said it was surprising that a doctor would use coarse language when referencing people wearing masks as a “gobshite” and “peasants”.

While the committee acknowledged that Dr de Brun had honestly-held beliefs, it found his comments on NPHET, which included that it was “not fit for purpose” and “a clear and present danger to public health", were “reckless and misguided.”

The inquiry heard that the GP had 10,000 followers on his Twitter account at the start of the pandemic, which had increased to 40,000 by September 2021.

After the ruling had been issued, Dr de Brun told the committee that their comments, which suggested he stood over references to vaccines and child abuse was “a grossly unfair characterisation of me.”

He said he had used strong language to try to get people thinking about the issue.

“I still believe vaccines for children were grossly wrong,” remarked Dr de Brun.

The GP said he also took “umbrage” at the “disingenuous” suggestion he had put his patients at risk by holding a surgery two days after attending a public rally.

Dr de Brun, who resigned from the Medical Council in April 2020 over what he claimed was the State’s failure to protect nursing home residents, admitted he was wrong to attend the rally.

However, he said he had attended the event on behalf of nursing home patients dying at an alarming rate “because of Government policy and neglect.”

The GP also observed that the Medical Council was meant to protect the public rather than be directing doctors during the pandemic that they had a duty to promote public health guidelines “regardless of their conscience.”

The inquiry heard he felt compelled to close his practice by terminating his HSE contract in January 2021, while he had also sold his family home because some neighbours did not want their children playing with the child of the “anti-vax doctor.”

He also stated he would make no apology for highlighting his conscientious belief that Covid-19 vaccines were “both dangerous and unnecessary.”

A few dozen supporters of the GP who attended the public hearing burst into regular rounds of applause as various of his Tweets were read out, while they gave Dr de Brun a standing ovation when he made a closing submission.

In a submission on sanction, counsel for the Medical Council, Neasa Bird BL, accepted there were no findings about Dr de Brun’s clinical performance.

Ms Bird said the sanction should mark that the GP had damaged public trust in the medical profession and suggested the regulatory body could impose fines on him.

Prof Murphy said the committee would issue a report on its findings with a recommendation on sanction to the Medical Council in due course.