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World Doctors Alliance

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World Doctors Alliance
Formation2020
FounderMohammad Iqbal Adil
TypePseudo-non-profit organization
FieldsMedical conspiracy theory

The World Doctors Alliance is a pseudo-medical organization of anti-vaccine activists, COVID-19 denialists and conspiracy theorists which was established in May 2020 by Mohammad Iqbal Adil.[1][2][3]

The various claims made by the World Doctors Alliance have been widely rejected by the medical community and it has been found to be a major source of misinformation regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]

Claims

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The World Doctors Alliance has made various false claims regarding COVID-19 and vaccines which have been universally rejected by the legitimate medical community and described as "absurd, inarticulate, the arguments poorly formed, sentimental and fail to reference any evidence".[12][13]

Members

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The World Doctors Alliance is made up of twelve public figures who have been either discredited in their fields, deemed unqualified to comment on issues related to virology or vaccines, or banned from practicing medicine due to misconduct.[14][15]

  1. Founding member Mohammad Iqbal Adil was suspended from teaching medicine in the UK in June 2020 after an investigation by the General Medical Council found he had been posting videos on social media claiming that Covid-19 was a hoax being spread by elites to control society.[16][17] In 2023, Adil was struck from the medical register due to continuing to spread misinformation and is no longer permitted to practice medicine nor use the title of 'Doctor'.[18]
  2. Dolores Cahill is a former professor of immunology at University College Dublin. She was asked to resign as vice chair of the Innovative Medicines Initiative in June 2020 after making misleading medical claims regarding COVID-19.[19] She was later forced to resign as chair of the Irish Freedom Party after "promising to debunk the narrative of the pandemic" in March 2021.[20] Cahill's claim that COVID-19 is hoax has been rejected by the legitimate medical community.[21]
  3. Zac Cox, a holistic dentist, has similarly claimed COVID-19 is a hoax and compared protesting against the pandemic to be similar to the plight his grandfather experienced fighting against the Nazi regime.[22]
  4. Psychiatrist Andrew Kaufman was described as "calmly denying reality" by McGill University for his role in spreading misinformation regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and claiming that a COVID-19 vaccine would make humans "genetically modified organisms".[23][17] Kaufman has also rejected the existence of the viruses behind the Common cold, Polio and HIV/AIDS and has said that “demon possession may actually be a factor in some mental illness”.[14]
  5. Heiko Schoening (Germany) was arrested in August 2020 at the Trafalgar Freedom Rally which aimed to oppose a second lockdown in the UK and oppose vaccination efforts.[24] Schoening has claimed "the pandemic is a hoax".[25]
  6. Heinrich Fiechtner is a former political member of Alternative for Germany, a German nationalist and right-wing populist political party.[26][circular reference] Fiechtner was expelled from the Stuttgart State Parliament in 2021 by the police after claiming that COVID-19 is a hoax.[27] He has accused those promoting the COVID-19 vaccine as being “disciple[s] of Josef Mengele”.[14]
  7. Scott Jensen (Minnesota politician) has claimed that COVID-19 figures have been inflated for monetary gain, a statement which Politifact cited as a major contributor to their "Lie of the Year 2020: Coronavirus downplay and denial".[28]
  8. Elke De Clerk is a general practitioner. She has claimed that "we do not have a pandemic" and calls COVID-19 a "normal flu virus". Both claims have been rejected by the World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the legitimate medical community.[29] De Klerk also claimed that people who take the COVID-19 vaccine will "officially become the property of Microsoft”[15] and that COVID-19 testing PCR kits were “a kind of nasal vaccination”. De Klerk has stated she no longer practices as a doctor and is working to "create new earth".[14]
  9. Mikael Nordfors was barred from practicing medicine in Denmark after being investigated for malpractice and suggesting alternative medicine could be a potential cure for COVID-19.[30][17] He has also been investigated for eleven cases of treating patients with Ozone therapy.[14]
  10. Hilde De Smet has claimed that face masks cause an excess of carbon-dioxide, leading to neurological damage. This claim has been rejected by the medical community.[31]
  11. Vernon Coleman is an English conspiracy theorist who has claimed COVID-19 is a hoax, that vaccines are dangerous and that face masks cause cancer. Such claims have been repeatedly debunked by the medical community.[32][33]
  12. Johan Denis was suspended in January 2021 as a general practitioner for claiming COVID-19 was a hoax and for giving patients a "mask-exemption certificate" on demand.[34]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Group that spread false Covid claims doubled Facebook interactions in six months". the Guardian. 2021-10-21. Retrieved 2021-11-09.
  2. ^ "Analysis | Meet the doctors' group spreading covid conspiracy theories in plain sight on Facebook". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2021-11-09.
  3. ^ Spencer, Christian (2021-10-21). "Alarming new report shows Facebook misinformation still spreading like wildfire". TheHill. Retrieved 2021-11-09.
  4. ^ Dube, Tendai (17 November 2020). ""World Doctors Alliance" shares false and misleading claims about the Covid-19 pandemic". Fact Check. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  5. ^ Dupuy, Beatrice (23 October 2020). "Doctors falsely claim coronavirus no worse than the flu". AP NEWS. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  6. ^ "WORLD DOCTORS ALLIANCE LIMITED overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Gov.uk. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  7. ^ "The group World Doctors Alliance spreads misinformation about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the virus, and the reliability of diagnostic tests". Health Feedback. 2020-10-22. Retrieved 2021-09-30.
  8. ^ "COVID-19 vaccine candidates show high efficacy and a safe profile in clinical trials, contrary to claims in viral video". Health Feedback. 2020-12-10. Retrieved 2021-09-30.
  9. ^ Coburg, Tom (2021-09-12). "Right wing proponents of coronavirus disinformation are putting lives at risk". The Canary. Retrieved 2021-09-30.
  10. ^ "Fact Check-No evidence that 87,000 Dutch nurses have refused a COVID-19 vaccine". Reuters. 2021-07-23. Retrieved 2021-09-30.
  11. ^ "Facebook 'failing' to tackle COVID-19 misinformation posted by prominent anti-vaccine group, study claims". ABC News. Retrieved 2021-12-29.
  12. ^ Bowen, Michael (13 July 2020). "Surgeon who said covid-19 was a hoax has been suspended pending GMC investigation". British Medical Journal. BMJ 2020: 370.
  13. ^ Jones, Craig. "A video posted by a European-based group called World Doctors Alliance falsely claims the novel coronavirus is "a normal flu virus"". Newswise.com. Newswise. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  14. ^ a b c d e Aoife Gallagher, Mackenzie Hart and Ciarán O’Connor. (2021). Ill Advice: A Case Study in Facebook’s Failure to Tackle COVID-19 Disinformation. ISD Global. ISDGlobal.org. https://www.isdglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Ill-Advice_v3.pdf
  15. ^ a b Gallagher, Conor. "Dolores Cahill Covid network continues to grow despite Facebook pledges". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2021-11-09.
  16. ^ Dyer, Clare (6 July 2020). "Surgeon who said covid-19 was a hoax has been suspended pending GMC investigation". BMJ. 370: m2714. doi:10.1136/bmj.m2714. ISSN 1756-1833. PMID 32631817.
  17. ^ a b c "These Are The So-Called 'Top Class Doctors And Nurses' Backing Anti-Mask Protests". HuffPost UK. 5 September 2020.
  18. ^ "Manchester surgeon who claimed Covid-19 was a hoax is struck-off". BBC News. 2023-10-04. Retrieved 2024-08-27.
  19. ^ Gallagher, Aoife (13 June 2020). "UCD professor asked to resign from EU committee over Covid-19 claims". The Irish Times. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  20. ^ McGreevy, Ronan (22 March 2021). "UCD academic Dolores Cahill resigns as chair of Irish Freedom Party". The Irish Times. TheIrishTimes.com. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  21. ^ Jarry, Johnathon (13 August 2021). "The Strange Case of Dr. Cahill and Ms. Hyde". Office for Science and Society. McGill.ca. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  22. ^ Harpin, Lee. "Anti-mask nurse defended Nazi references saying: 'I don't care if they find it offensive'". www.thejc.com. The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  23. ^ Jarry, Johnathon. "The Psychiatrist Who Calmly Denies Reality". McGill University. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  24. ^ Durden, Tyler (27 September 2020). "German Professor Arrested After Speaking At "We Do Not Consent" Rally In London". Invesbrain. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  25. ^ Kitching, Chris (18 October 2020). "Brit who thinks coronavirus is 'hoax' sparks row for not wearing mask on plane". The Mirror. Mirror.co.uk. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  26. ^ "Heinrich Fiechtner". Wikipedia (in German). 6 August 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  27. ^ Schmid, Mirko (17 February 2021). "AfD: Trump-Fan und Verschwörungstheoretiker Fiechtner will zurück in die Partei" (in German). Frankfurer Rundschau.
  28. ^ Baird, Caryn. "Lie of the Year: Coronavirus downplay and denial". PolitiFact. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  29. ^ Gambardello, Joseph A. (21 October 2020). "Doctors in Video Falsely Equate COVID-19 With a 'Normal Flu Virus'". FactCheck.org. Fact Check. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  30. ^ Jonasson, Thomas (4 October 2015). "Prickas gång på gång – ändå kan läkaren fortsätta att arbeta". SVT Nyheter (in Swedish). www.svt.se. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  31. ^ Nee, mondmaskers veroorzaken geen hypercapnie (translated: No, masks do not cause Hypercapnia)
  32. ^ McDonald, Jessica (12 February 2021). "Video Makes Bogus Claims About 'War Crimes' and COVID-19 Vaccine Safety". FactCheck.org. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  33. ^ Norton, Tim (19 August 2021). "Trafalgar Square "Freedom Rally" speech littered with false claims". FullFact.org. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  34. ^ “GP who claimed Covid-19 is a hoax has his licence suspended”, 27 January 2021, The Brussels Times, accessed 11 September 2021.
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