GP believed he could adhere to covid guidelines while challenging them on social media

Marcus de Brun is accused of 10 counts of professional misconduct over his criticism of lockdowns, the wearing of facemasks, and covid-19 vaccines. Picture: Collins Courts

A GP accused of professional misconduct over his criticism of covid-19 vaccines and other pandemic measures has told a medical inquiry that he believed he could adhere to public health guidelines in his medical practice while still challenging them on social media.

Marcus de Brun told a fitness-to-practise hearing of the Medical Council that he felt “corralled” into using Twitter to question public health guidelines because there was no other forum for doctors to raise their concerns about measures used to combat the virus.

“There was nowhere else to go,” he remarked.

Dr de Brun gave evidence that he continued to hold the view that covid-19 vaccines had caused an excess of deaths and were dangerous because of his belief they have the potential to cause cancer as they are unlike traditional protein-based vaccines.

He repeated a claim made in a controversial tweet in July 2021 that injecting a child with a genetic-based vaccine was “a crime against humanity”. 

The inquiry heard the GP had resigned his HSE contract because he did not want to have to administer the vaccine to his patients, even though it had serious consequences for him, including his relationship with his family.

However, Dr de Brun stressed that he had followed all public health guidelines while working in his previous practice in Rush, Co Dublin, during the pandemic.

Dr de Brun is accused of 10 counts of professional misconduct over his criticism of lockdowns, the wearing of facemasks, and covid-19 vaccines.

Most of the allegations relate to 67 posts by the GP on his Twitter account between May 2020 and October 2021. 

Others relate to comments he made at a public rally in Dublin in August 2020 when he was also accused of failing to wear a facemask and observe social distancing.

The Medical Council claims Dr de Brun’s comments and actions were inappropriate and undermined public health guidelines as well as running contrary to sections of the Guide to Professional Conduct and Ethics.

However, the GP maintains that the deaths of his patients in a nursing home during the pandemic and the subsequent anger he expressed on Twitter were “a consequence of Government guidelines and inaction of the Medical Council.” 

On the National Public Health Emergency Team, he remained adamant that the group’s policies had resulted in “a significant number of deaths.” 

“A great many of their decisions were wrong with disastrous effects then and which still reverberate through our society,” he added.

Under cross-examination by counsel for the Medical Council, Neasa Bird, Dr de Brun accepted he had used Twitter to challenge public health guidelines but agreed it was not a place “for detailed complex discussion”. 

While the GP accepted that some of his posts may have caused distress, he disagreed with Ms Bird’s suggestion that his use of Twitter to raise his concerns was inappropriate, including using a photo of a Nuremberg rally in one tweet.

Ms Bird said such posts including one which described giving vaccines to children as “the greatest crime against humanity that this century has witnessed so far” were “clearly inappropriate and highly alarmist”. 

Asked if supported any public health guidelines, Dr de Brun said he had agreed with the use of hand sanitiser and the isolation of vulnerable people in nursing homes, which he accepted were introduced “with a lot of good intent".  

However, he believed the consequences of social distancing and lockdowns for young healthy people were “more severe and dangerous” than covid-19 itself.

In reply to other questions, the GP accepted he had not complied with his regulatory body’s guidelines on the use of social media but said his posts should be seen in the context of his primary duty “to do no harm and then try and do some good”. 

The inquiry was adjourned and will resume on Thursday when it is expected to conclude.