The Case
The College received a complaint from a member of the public about social media posts by a physiotherapist about the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the posts, the physiotherapist identified themselves as a health care worker with experience treating patients with viral and respiratory illnesses. They posted a handful of comments questioning the validity of COVID-19 vaccines, the classification of COVID-19 as a global pandemic and suggested that the number of deaths attributed to COVID was inaccurate.
In their response to the College, the PT noted that they were trying to engage in respectful, open conversation with members of the community. However, the physiotherapist acknowledged that their professionalism and personal opinion may be perceived as intertwined, so they decided to remove the posts.
The Rules
As regulated health care professionals, physiotherapists must always act in accordance with the law, public health orders and recommendations, regulatory standards, and the College’s Code of Ethics when offering their opinions on public-facing platforms like social media.
Physiotherapists hold a unique position of trust with the public and have a professional responsibility to not make comments or provide information that encourages the public to ignore public health guidance. The information physiotherapists share must not be misleading or deceptive and must be supported by scientific evidence.
The Outcome
The Committee acknowledges that every individual has the right to autonomy when making decisions about their personal health care. However, the Committee was concerned that the PT shared specific anti-vaccination views to support their own personal beliefs rather than sharing general information about individual choice in health care.
The Committee determined that the physiotherapist’s posts lacked supporting evidence and contradicted information from public health authorities. As such, the posts were not aligned with the PT’s responsibilities as a regulated health professional.
In the posts, the physiotherapist spoke about being a health care worker with experience treating viral and respiratory diseases. It is possible that members of the public could have seen these posts and decided to forgo a vaccine based on the belief that they were acting on the guidance of a health professional.
The Committee determined that these concerns were significant enough for the physiotherapist to receive a caution. The caution will appear on the Public Register permanently.
Standards and Resources
Code of Ethics