A former TVNZ presenter and doctor has had her medical registration cancelled and been ordered to pay more than $148,000 after posting Covid-19 misinformation to her YouTube channel which racked up around 18 million views.

While the Health Practitioner’s Disciplinary Tribunal (HPDT) issued Samantha Bailey with its ruling last year, the outcome of the years-long investigation into her conduct was only publicly released yesterday.

Christchurch’s Bailey, who was previously one of four presenters on the TVNZ health series The Checkup, posted videos to her channel commenting on the “mythology” of the vaccine’s efficacy while touting her medical and science education.

In many videos, she promoted a book she co-authored which looked at “how the medical industry continually invents epidemics, making billion-dollar profits at our expense”.

Another video claimed she was fired from her TV role for not “sticking to the narrative” about the Covid-19 vaccine.

The Medical Council went on to receive 15 complaints about Bailey’s videos and in 2021 she tried to stall its investigation by requesting a judicial review.

However, this was declined by the High Court and the council eventually charged Bailey with spreading “misleading and inappropriate” information.

While free speech is protected under the Bill of Rights Act, medical professionals, as per their code of ethics, have a “limitation on this right” and any robust debate they engage in must be well-founded, and expressed in a balanced way.

In 2023, the council’s charges were heard in the HPDT but Bailey did not turn up to the hearing.

However, a week before her hearing, she posted a video titled “Will I be Struck off?”, claiming the tribunal “does not even pretend to be impartial” and was “rigged from the start”.

She labelled it a “kangaroo court” and claimed if she was struck off, it would be a “badge of honour”.

Bailey also said she would not pay any costs if ordered to do so and had no wish to return to the medical profession.

Samantha Bailey (far left) was one of the presenters on TVNZ show The Checkup. Photo / TV Guide.

In the HPDT’s resulting decision, it found she “imparted misinformation to a wide audience and in doing so has undermined New Zealand’s public health response to Covid-19″.

“She has published extensively and has refused to address the concerns raised by the Medical Council. The conduct is objectively serious.”

The tribunal ordered her to pay $148,450.41 in legal costs the council’s Professional Conduct Committee incurred prosecuting her, which the decision stated only represented 60% of what it spent on the case.

She was also fined $10,000 and her registration was cancelled.

Bailey was not to apply for re-registration for two years from the date of the decision, it stated, though she has not practised since 2021.

‘Hallmarks of conspiracy theory’

Lawyers for the council told the HPDT that the videos Bailey posted breached the standards of good medical practice which required doctors to not allow personal beliefs to affect their advice, to ensure the information they broadcast was factual and verifiable, and to recognise the limits of their competence and exercise caution when publishing publicly accessible information.

The council has previously made it clear that while individuals have a right to their opinions, there was no place for anti-vaccination messages in professional health practice.

At the HPDT hearing, the council’s lawyers called three expert witnesses; an infectious disease physician, a vaccinologist and an expert in misinformation.

The three concluded the information in Bailey’s videos was at odds with the best medical evidence on Covid-19 and its causes, prevention, treatment and diagnosis.

“With very few exceptions, the positions the practitioner takes in each of the videos referred to in the charge are not in the realms of legitimate scientific debate, and have the hallmarks of conspiracy theory,” its submissions read.

A video Samantha Bailey posted to her YouTube channel a week before a hearing into her conduct was scheduled to begin. Photo / Supplied

While Bailey did not show up to the hearing, she did make submissions in which she said she was entitled to express views that differed from the Government’s position, that she researched the videos thoroughly before posting them and was attempting to shed light on topics her audience was confused by.

Bailey also said the number of complaints to the council compared to the views her videos received suggested public support for them. She questioned the legitimacy of the complaints and suggested there were ulterior political motives.

‘Discredit to the medical profession’

The tribunal analysed each of the 23 videos relating to the charges against Bailey and found all of them were inaccurate and misleading.

While some have now been taken down by YouTube under its medical misinformation policy, others were removed by Bailey.

In some videos, Bailey made personal attacks on Dr Siouxsie Wiles and Dr Michael Baker who were at the forefront of New Zealand’s pandemic response.

“… these comments would likely have caused those watching her videos to distrust the advice being given to the New Zealand Government and the consequential public health response,” the tribunal found.

“The practitioner’s conduct had the potential to cause significant impacts by undermining public trust in the experts advising on New Zealand’s public health response to Covid-19.

Samantha Bailey made personal attacks against Dr Siouxsie Wiles in some of her videos. Photo / Natalie Slade

“In attacking their reputation she brought or was likely to bring discredit to the medical profession as a whole.”

Costs involved reflect the case’s complexity

In response to questions from NZME about the cost of the prosecution, Medical Council chairwoman, Dr Rachelle Love, said the case’s legal costs included preparation for hearings, gathering evidence, expert opinions, and ensuring that the process was fair and thorough.

She said the council was responsible for taking action when concerns arise about a doctor’s practice.

“The cost of any disciplinary process reflects the complexity of the case, the need to follow due process, and the legal requirements involved,” she said.

“While we are mindful of costs, our priority is ensuring that professional standards are upheld and that the public can have confidence in the medical profession.”

Bailey did not respond to a request for comment.

Jeremy Wilkinson is an Open Justice reporter based in Manawatū covering courts and justice issues with an interest in tribunals. He has been a journalist for nearly a decade and has worked for NZME since 2022.