A chiropractor in Canada has been fined $100,000 (£80,000) for spreading anti-vaccination views on social media.
Dr Dena Churchill, based in Halifax, was ordered to pay the fine by a medical committee after it ruled she was spreading ‘harmful’ opinions about immunisations.
She had breached guidelines that state that chiropractors shouldn’t discuss vaccinations at all – and claimed jabs actually cause measles instead of stop it.
An investigation was first launched a year ago after someone complained about Dr Churchill’s activity online.
Dr Churchill, who quit working as a chiropractor in January before a settlement was agreed, said she would ‘do it all again’ if she was given the opportunity to do so.
Dr Dena Churchill (pictured) was ordered to pay $100,000 (£80,000) for spreading anti-vaccination views on social media
Guidelines state that chiropractors shouldn’t discuss vaccinations at all, but Dr Churchill would write unfounded claims such as that the measles outbreak is due to vaccinations
Dr Churchill encouraged her followers to do their research on the ‘dangers of vaccines’, but said those who spoke out would be called ‘crazy or delusional’
A decision posted online by the Nova Scotia College of Chiropractors said Dr Churchill had ‘ignored’ the college when it told her to stop posting about vaccines.
It said: ‘Dr. Churchill’s conduct brought the profession of chiropractic into disrepute,’ CBC News reported.
‘Dr. Churchill has shown no remorse. There is genuine concern that she is ungovernable.’
Anti-vaccination myths are a major concern in the US, which is in the midst of its worst measles outbreak in 27 years.
As of June 27, 1,099 cases of measles had been reported in 28 states, with the vast majority of them occurring in New York City.
Infection rates haven’t been this high since 1992 when 2,237 cases were recorded over the course of the year.
Dr Churchill and other anti-vaxxers extensively make unfounded claims that the jump in measles cases has been caused by vaccinations.
CBC reported that Dr Churchill refused to delete social media posts that encouraged her followers to do their research on the ‘dangers of vaccines’.
In a Facebook post on May 17, she said: ‘Those who speak out about it may be called crazy or delusional.’
As well as her main Facebook page run as ‘Innovator in Women’s Health and Wellness’, Dr Churchill promoted anti-vaccination conspiracy theories on her personal page and blog ‘Dr Sexy Mom’.
She alleged that vaccinations have vast negative effects on health, including causing cancer – which vaccines can prevent – and autism.
Nova Scotia College of Chiropractors first began investigations into Dr Churchill a year ago. They said she had shown no remorse and refused to delete her posts
![The college said: 'There is genuine concern that she [Dr Churchill] is ungovernable'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/07/08/08/15762170-0-image-a-3_1562572136974.jpg)
The college said: ‘There is genuine concern that she [Dr Churchill] is ungovernable’
The disproved link to autism originated with disgraced London-based gastroenterologist Andrew Wakefield in 1995.
Dr Churchill recorded a video voicing her view that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the US has a financial bias related to vaccines.
Critics in the medical profession have previously slammed Dr Churchill for peddling pseudoscience that essential oils can suppress tumours and that wearing a bra can cause cancer.
In January, Dr Churchill admitted to the college she was ‘professionally incompetent as a result of incompetence arising out of mental incapacity’ before being forced to quit her profession.
Considering Dr Churchill’s ‘dire financial circumstances’, the committee decided to lower their original settlement agreement, allowing Dr Churchill to pay $100,000 (£80,000) over the course of 10 years.
She must pay a total of $30,000 (£24,000) by January 2, 2022, otherwise she’ll have to pay the full amount at once.
In a Facebook post on Friday, Dr Churchill thanked the media for covering her story and hoped that it would awaken the public to the ‘manipulation of the medical industrial complex’.
She wrote: ‘I have no remorse and I would do it all over again if I had the opportunity.’
Leading scientists have urged internet search engines and social media websites to stop anti-vaccination claims circulating online.
Companies such as Google, Facebook and Twitter have been called on to monitor claims vaccines don’t work in the same way they do violent or threatening messages.
MailOnline has contacted Dr Churchill for comment.