A Halifax-based chiropractor who posted controversial online statements questioning vaccination and immunization has surrendered her professional licence and admitted to being “professionally incompetent.”
The details are contained in a settlement agreement posted by the province’s College of Chiropractors on March 1.
The settlement says that Dena Churchill, who operated Oxford Chiropractic Inc., surrendered her licence to practice chiropractic medicine in Nova Scotia on Jan. 22. She also admitted to the charge of being “professionally incompetent as a result of incompetence arising out of mental incapacity.”
READ MORE: Nova Scotia chiropractor accused of professional misconduct now set to face competency hearing
As a result of the agreement, a competency hearing that was scheduled for this week will no longer proceed.
The agreement states that Churchill underwent a physiological assessment in October 2018 and that she will not reapply for a licence to practice chiropractic medicine until a doctor approved by the college determines that she is medically “competent and fit to practice.”
Churchill must also pay $6,000 in costs to the college.
The controversial chiropractor closed her practice in October 2018.
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Churchill still faces a professional misconduct hearing, which the college says is unaffected by this settlement.
The college’s hearing committee will consider allegations of professional misconduct and conduct unbecoming a chiropractor in relation to social media posts by Churchill that aired disproved and unfounded views on vaccination.
The college specifically says that vaccines are outside the scope of chiropractic practice and that they recognize “that vaccination and immunization are established public health practices in the prevention of infectious diseases.”
The misconduct hearing is scheduled for May 22 to 28.
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