A Wexford GP has been found guilty of professional misconduct over posts on social media during the Covid-19 pandemic which were highly critical of public health measures introduced to tackle the virus.

However, the wife of Dr Billy Ralph told a Medical Council inquiry that it was difficult and heartbreaking “to watch 32 years of service reduced to a handful of posts.”

In a submission to the hearing, Paula Byrne told the sixth and final day of the inquiry that “independent thought is not the same thing as professional misconduct.”

Her comments followed the announcement by the Medical Council’s fitness-to-practise committee that four out of six allegations of professional misconduct against her husband were proven.

It found that his social media posts were “entirely inappropriate, dangerous and undermining of NPHET and public health guidance.”

Dr Ralph, who runs his own practice at The Ballagh Health Centre, The Ballagh, Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, had denied that a series of social media posts on Twitter (now X) between October 2020 and June 2022 had undermined public health guidelines introduced during the pandemic.

The GP had argued that the case against him was about “an expression of views in a period of unprecedented uncertainty in modern medicine.”

However, he accepted that some of the language used was “strong and sometimes imperfectly expressed.”

The allegations related to 34 tweets which variously criticised different measures introduced to tackle the spread of the Covid-19 virus.

The allegations of professional misconduct which were proven related to Dr Ralph’s criticism of the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET), vaccinations, particularly to children and the promotion of ivermectin as a treatment for Covid-19 infection.

In one tweet, Dr Ralph wrote “There is no pandemic just a lot of misguided fascist professionals who have lost the run of themselves.”

In relation to Covid-19 vaccines for children, he described any parent getting such “pointless and dangerous products” as “a vile individual.”

In November 2021 he tweeted: “Because of scientists/government/doctors/RTE’s lies, some children watching the Toy Show tonight will receive the Covid jab and will not see another Christmas.”

The inquiry chairperson, Paul Harkin, said an allegation relating to posts which criticised the use of facemasks was not proven as they were retweets.

Harkin said another allegation relating to Dr Ralph’s opposition to lockdowns, while proven, was not assessed as amounting to professional misconduct.

The committee said the GP had not shown respect for a range of views and his posts were likely to have caused alarm among non-medical persons.

His description of “clowns” in NPHET and the HSE was deemed “intemperate and abusive.”

Harkin said the committee found the evidence of one expert witness called by Dr Ralph was “not persuasive”, while a second expert who testified for the GP was “an articulate propagandist.”

Although it was accepted that Dr Ralph was not an anti-vaxxer, Harkin said he had added to scepticism about vaccines.

The chairperson said it was an understatement to say the GP’s tweets were “inappropriate.”

He also described them as “not factually accurate, not evidence-based and misleading.”

The fitness-to-practise committee permitted Ms Byrne to make a statement to the hearing as part of his submission on a proposed sanction as a result of the findings against her husband.

Byrne said it was difficult and heartbreaking “to watch 32 years of service reduced to a handful of posts made during one of the most divisive and uncertain periods in modern history.”

She said her husband was not reckless and not motivated by ego or personal gain but someone “who asks questions.”

Byrne observed: “He is someone who has always been willing to stand alone if he believed something needed to be said.”

“That quality may be uncomfortable at times, it may even be unpopular, but it is also a quality that has driven progress in every profession throughout history,” she added.

Byrne continued: “I am asking you to recognise that he said those things because he believed them, not because they were fashionable, not because they were safe, not because they were profitable, but because he genuinely believed he had a duty to speak.”

She said it was “deeply upsetting and repugnant” to have legal principles at the hearing illustrated with examples of sexual assault, fraud and other serious forms of criminal activity.

“Billy's life is bigger than this hearing, his career is bigger than this hearing, his contribution to medicine is bigger than this hearing and his character is bigger than this hearing,” said Ms Byrne.

She claimed the process had “come at an enormous cost, professionally, personally, financially and emotionally.”

Byrne concluded: “I remain proud that he was prepared to stand by his convictions and I remain proud of the decades he has spent caring for the people who placed their trust in him.”

Counsel for the Medical Council, Neasa Bird BL, recommended that the minimum sanction should be censure, while suggesting that certain conditions could also be attached to Dr Ralph’s registration requiring him to undergo courses on social media and the importance of following national health guidelines.

Bird acknowledged that there had been no issue in relation to the GP’s professional performance and that his views were genuine.

However, she said Dr Ralph had engaged in a pattern of conduct with social media posts that were “inaccurate, alarmist and, on occasion, abusive.”

Harkin said the committee would provide a report on the inquiry with a recommendation on sanction to the Medical Council in due course.