Free To Speak - 27 October 2026
David Smylie: One Email, a Medical Council Complaint, and Why a GP Left New Zealand
Episode Notes
GP David Smylie tells Dane Giraud how one late-night email to a pharmaceutical sales rep, sent in November 2022, became a Medical Council of New Zealand investigation. He says the complaint was made by the rep's manager.
David says he apologised early and offered to meet the rep, but the Council never passed his apology on. He says a committee then told him in writing that he was racist, on the strength of that one email. He was required to complete 12 months of supervised sessions, at his own cost, on implicit bias, colonialism and institutional racism.
He did the sessions but would not write the two essays that came at the end, and chose to leave New Zealand. David argues the Council should get back to protecting the public from dangerous doctors. Dane connects his story to the Free Speech Union's campaign on professional regulators.
Free to Speak is the official podcast of the New Zealand Free Speech Union. Uncensored conversations on free speech, civil liberties, and the people defending them. Hosted by Dane Giraud.
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