Two doctors in Canada who have been outspoken about COVID-19 restrictions are now barred from issuing medical exemptions related to vaccine mandates or mask requirements.
The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO), the province's regulatory medical body, said Monday that Dr. Mark Trozzi and Dr. Rochagne Kilian will no longer be permitted to grant medical exemptions related to COVID-19 mandates or testing.
Both doctors have been flagged for previously speaking out against pandemic restrictions and expressing skepticism about coronavirus vaccines, according to CP24.
Kilian, a physician in Owen Sound, Ontario, has spoken at rallies organized by the anti-vaccine mandate group Grey-Bruce Freedom Fighters. Last month, Kilian also resigned from her position as an emergency room doctor for Grey Bruce Health Services over its handling of the pandemic, the news outlet reported.
In addition to being barred from issuing medical exemptions, both doctors will be required to post information about the new restrictions in their offices. CPSO's public database continues to list Kilian as a doctor in Owen Sound, but shows no specialty or primary practice location for Trozzi.
"[The doctors] shall post a sign in all waiting rooms, examination rooms and consulting rooms, in all Practice Locations, in a clearly visible and secure location, at all times whether or not [he]/she is physically present at the Practice Location," the restriction for each doctor states.
The CPSO added that the sign must say that each doctor "must not provide medical exemptions in relation to COVID-19 vaccines, mask requirements or testing. Further information may be found on the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario website."
The college said that it was able to issue the new orders, which took effect starting Friday, under a 2018 rule that allows it to "suspend or impose terms, conditions or limitations on a member's certificate of registration where the college believes that the conduct exposes or is likely to expose patients to harm or injury," CP24 reported.
The latest restrictions come after Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Kieran Moore, said that medical exemptions for COVID-19 vaccines should only be granted at a rate of about five people per 100,000. Moore added that the only two reasons that someone should avoid the vaccine is due to an allergic reaction or because of an increased risk of heart inflammation, according to Global News.
"I want to ensure that all Ontarians have the benefit of protection of immunization and a false medical exemption or an incorrect one bypasses our ability to protect them," Moore said earlier this month.
Newsweek contacted CPSO for an additional statement, but they did not comment beyond the restrictions posting.
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