In this open letter, Dr. Alain Colignon called for a debate on the irreconcilable contradictions between the Hippocratic Oath and public health policy.
Mr. Benoît Dejemeppe
President of the National Council of the Order of Physicians
Nivelles, May 27, 2025
Mr. Dejemeppe,
Since the beginning of the health crisis, I have repeatedly asked you to open a debate within the Order on the irreconcilable contradictions between our oath and the public health policy, which was driven by compromised experts and corrupt politicians.
You responded to the questions I posed with stubborn silence, even though they concerned the survival of tens of thousands of Belgians whom you had a mission to protect — and whom you abandoned.
You hid behind fallacious arguments to stifle my legitimate pleas.
As a reminder, the questions I posed related to critical points of our professional ethics:
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Can an unknown and deadly disease be treated over the phone with just paracetamol (Dafalgan)? The answer is no!
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Can a doctor be forbidden from repurposing a treatment that has been well understood for over half a century, a treatment recommended by the world’s top microbiologist? The answer is no!
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Can doctors be forced to promote a treatment still in Phase 3 trials? The answer is no!
And yet:
You did not react when the College of General Medicine took advantage of COVID to close medical offices and promote telemedicine, ensuring its generous and now permanent reimbursement.
You banned the repurposing of Hydroxychloroquine and Ivermectin, sweeping aside therapeutic freedom or feigning ignorance of their major public health benefits.
You blindly promoted a treatment based on dubious technology, whose effects were unknown even to its creators. You appealed the decision of the Appeals Council that overturned the ruling the Hainaut Council had issued against me. The case was referred.
The Appeals Council fully exonerated me on substance. The only criticism made was regarding form, notably a lack of courtesy towards you. The Order clarified that you were wrong to silence the debate!
My comments were not uncivil; they were an observation that today becomes an indictment.
All recent studies, especially that of Valère Lounnas, confirm the remarkable effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin in managing COVID. Dr. Dauby, who led a Belgian study involving four universities and 41 researchers, had already highlighted in August 2020 the significant reduction in mortality associated with hydroxychloroquine. I attach both studies to this letter.
How could you, Mr. President, have neglected such critical work — published precisely when Belgians were dying, intubated and lying on their stomachs, begging for help?
Based on the numbers now validated by true science, we can deduce that your authoritarian and reckless attitude led to the avoidable deaths of over 15,000 Belgians, and likely as many serious vaccine side effects, especially among the young.
Mr. Dejemeppe, let us open the debate!
Do not underestimate the magnitude of the scandal that the coming years will inevitably unravel. The Gordian knot you tightened will be cut by the sword of truth. Admittedly, we cannot fault the media for following BlackRock consultants, compromised experts, and questionable politicians — but can we excuse the Order for not embracing a fair and inclusive ethical debate, sheltered from those who flagrantly violated science?
What happened must never happen again.
You benefit from a jurisdictional privilege — albeit a debatable one in this case — that protects you, but your conscience should be a stronger driver toward a profound reform of our profession, a reform the Order claims to want, but which you have incomprehensibly blocked. I now make it the unchanging goal of the time I have left.
Once again, I ask to be heard before the National Council — not to assign blame, but to ensure that the next health crisis is not once again handed over to wrongdoers and disastrously mismanaged.
Things must change immediately. The Order must undergo deep reform.
You would do me a great service by giving this letter the attention you have denied all those that preceded it.
Mr. President,
You have a duty to liberate medicine from the grip of big finance. Together, we must rethink the Order and our Code of Ethics. Be the architect of this sweeping reform and please allocate one hour in the next Council meeting agenda to the one who remains a loyal and devoted servant of our profession and its exemplary standards.
Vale.
Alain Colignon
President of the Universal Order of Health Practitioners