Doctor’s name removed from Alberta report on COVID-19 response

A health worker prepares a syringe for a vaccination shot in an undated photo. (CTV News file)

A correction had to be made Tuesday to a recently released report of Alberta’s pandemic response after a physician was listed as a contributor without his consent.

Dr. John Conly, a professor and former Head of the Department of Medicine at the University of Calgary and Alberta Health Services, asked for his name to be removed.

“I was interviewed by the panel for the expressed purpose of scientific advice on how to interpret select studies the panel was reviewing. I did not have any input on the findings within the report,” he said in a statement. “I have been and continue to be a strong supporter of COVID-19 vaccinations, and the use of rigorous evidence to guide policy decisions.”

The health ministry’s office said Dr. Conly’s name was added in error and corrected, but infectious disease researcher Dr. Craig Jenne said it further calls into question the report’s merit.

“This is not something that somebody has contributed in a meaningful way and then disagreed with the final results and then their name was used whether by accident or not to lend credibility to the report,” he said.

“I think that is a very big concern that names are being included to add weight and credibility to the report.”

The $2-million report commissioned by the province has been meant with swift backlash from many in the health and science professions.

The report recommends allowing for greater flexibility in the use of therapies such as off-label medications including Ivermectin.

It also recommends halting the use of vaccines without full disclosure of their risks and ending their use in healthy children and teenagers.

Some health experts argue the taskforce was made up of those opposed to vaccines and health restrictions, and are critical of the report’s omission studies supported by the scientific community.

“Certainty if we think about the strength of evidence on public health measures and masking for instance, sure there’s uncertainty there so we’re going to hear different perspectives for sure, and I think we can have respectful conversations for things like that. But in the areas of vaccinations and therapeutics there is consensus that Ivermectin does not work,” said Dr. Braden Manns, a health economics professor at the University of Calgary. “There is consensus around vaccination and therapeutics and the other areas we did need a report like this, but this isn’t the report we needed.”

Dr. Gary Davidson, the lead author and former chief of the emergency department at Red Deer Regional Hospital, defended the findings in an online show hosted by the WhistleStop Café, which sued the government for imposing mandates on businesses during the pandemic.

“There is no such thing as consensus in science. Science is about questioning everything,” he said.

Another author, David Speicher, who is a virologist and running for the Peoples Party of Canada, said he reviewed information around testing.

“I am in no way anti-vax or anti-science. I am against poor science, against the government enforcing things on people such as all these mRNA vaccine without proper research and lack of informed consent. Proper informed consent is access to all the facts about the vaccines. People have a right to be fully informed,” read part of a statement.

Speicher was a speaker at a controversial event hosted by Calgary-Lougheed MLA Eric Bouchard last year.

He is planning to speak at a future event hosted by Bouchard’s constituency office on March 3rd.