An inner-Melbourne pharmacist has lost a bid to resume practising while she waits for the outcome of a suspension review, after a tribunal found her theories on COVID-19 health measures were “dangerous nonsense” at worst.
Yarraville pharmacist Maria Stogiannis applied to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal to overturn her suspension from the Pharmacy Board of Australia, which was prompted by her vocal opposition to COVID-19 vaccinations and alleged defiance of pandemic safety laws.
Maria Stogiannis’ pharmacy at Yarraville. Credit:Google Maps
In a decision published on Tuesday, senior tribunal member Anna Dea urged her to seek professional legal advice, and consider whether she really wanted to pursue the review.
The pharmacy board suspended Ms Stogiannis’ registration on March 1, the decision said, because it reasonably believed the pharmacist “posed a serious risk” to people, and that it was in the public interest for her to be suspended.
The regulator accused Ms Stogiannis of not complying with the chief health officer’s directions, and of having a “blatant disregard for patient care and public safety”.
It suggested the pharmacist did not have sound judgement and respect for “lawful obligations”. Therefore, the regulator said the tribunal had reason to believe Ms Stogiannis would not give safe and appropriate advice to her patients who were concerned about COVID-19 and unsure about vaccines, or whether or how to comply with public health advice.
“Over many months, in the midst of a pandemic, the applicant has [practised] in defiance of laws designed to protect public health and safety,” the regulator told the tribunal.
“She has made known her views about [COVID-19] and vaccinations that are contrary to public health advice.
“In this proceeding, the applicant apparently maintains the proposition that those involved with vaccination will be tried, as if war criminals in ‘Nuremberg’, for manslaughter or murder.”
The board also pointed to a document Ms Stogiannis filed to the tribunal, which claimed mRNA vaccines cause AIDS, as cause for “grave doubts” about her temperament and judgement.
Ms Stogiannis sought a stay of the suspension, while she waited for the outcome of her application for the board’s decision to be reviewed.
One of the documents she submitted in support of her case incorrectly claimed that Pfizer paid a $2.8 million “bribe” to the US Food and Drug Administration to gain approval for COVID-19 vaccines, referring to it as a “bioweapon”.
Another document she submitted labelled COVID-19 vaccinations “experimental” and purported to “reveal the real risk of an unprecedented genocide”.
She also argued the board’s chairman was not legally qualified to suspend her registration, claiming her application should be heard in the Magistrates Court.
“It was of considerable concern to me that a health practitioner would, without applying critical thought, rely on material apparently circulating on the internet as to the efficacy of vaccines developed to protect people from COVID-19,” the tribunal member, Ms Dea, said.
“It appeared to me that Ms Stogiannis had fallen under the spell of a world view that is remote from reality and is entirely inconsistent with the standards of the pharmacy profession.”
In arguing for a stay on her suspension, Ms Stogiannis said it was critical she be able to practice as a pharmacist as her elderly patients relied on her to fill their prescriptions and deliver them after hours.
The pharmacy board countered Ms Stogiannis had adequate time to make alternative arrangements for her patients.
The pharmacist said she had “not adversely affected anyone’s health and did not present a danger to anyone”. She said the Department of Justice and Community Safety – which attended her business for compliance checks – did not like her keeping a written record of who attended her pharmacy, rather than using a QR code check-in.
Ms Dea said she rejected Ms Stogiannis’ application for a stay “largely because the public interest did not support her being allowed to return to practise”.
“In my view, her theories regarding health measures directed at protecting Victorians from the COVID-19 pandemic might, at best, be described as misguided and, at worst, as dangerous nonsense,” Ms Dea said.
She repeated the suggestion Ms Stogiannis should seek legal advice about whether she wanted to pursue a review of her suspension, and gave her until April 19 to write to the tribunal and the respondent, the pharmacy board, to say whether she wanted to go ahead with it.
The tribunal member also dismissed Ms Stogiannis’ application for an injunction to attend her pharmacy in Yarraville, which is co-located with her home, because the tribunal has no power to grant such an injunction.
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2022-04-06 01:31:59Z
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