Dr McCann is a General Practitioner with 15 years’ experience – and also a practice owner. Prior to studying medicine, Dr McCann trained and worked as a pharmacist. Dr McCann would be described as a ‘mainstream’ GP and she practiced with considerable trust in official advice and guidelines and with a passion for continuous learning and the scientific method. She did, however, harbour some healthy scepticism towards ‘Big Pharma’, largely as a consequence of observations during her time working as a pharmacist and due to her knowledge of the scandals of Vioxx, Tamiflu, Thalidomide, etc. This resulted in Dr McCann taking the position of declining to give audience to pharmaceutical representatives’ in her clinic from the time she opened her practice in 2015.

Actions & Outcomes

Prior to the Covid 19 vaccines, Dr McCann was a passionate advocate for vaccinations generally. She participated for a short period in the Covid vaccination program, but ceased her involvement after mandates were announced due to the medical ethics and consent issues posed by mandatory policies – and after observing several adverse events.

During the last quarter of 2021, when vaccination uptake increased rapidly in her rural community, Dr McCann observed an alarming change in presentations. This included patients reporting blood clots, strokes, chest pain, miscarriages, myocarditis and other severe side effects after vaccination. Such events were not typically seen after the flu vaccination season or after the hundreds of vaccinations she would see given in patients each year, and this prompted Dr McCann to write to Minister Greg Hunt and John Skerritt (TGA) in November 2021, requesting a suspension of the vaccination program and a review of the safety issues for the Covid vaccines.

Dr McCann felt that her letter was responded to in a dismissive manner (ie. that sadly young people die suddenly every year or have a cardiac arrest and this is coincidental if occurring after vaccination), leading her to form the opinion that the regulatory authorities and government officials were not undertaking the safety surveillance with sufficient care and rigour. This prompted a process of letter writing, freedom of information requests, and ultimately legal advice and initiation of the class action.

Filed in April 2023, the class action seeks compensation for the injured and bereaved on the basis that the actions of the government official respondents allegedly represent negligence in both their:

a) actions to approve the vaccines – and –
b) their actions or inactions with respect to the safety surveillance.

Current Status

The class action is progressing well and the first case management hearing is in April 2024. Support has been achieved through generous public donations, as well as considerable financial investment from Dr McCann. It is the first class action in the world to seek compensation for the injured against the regulator who approved and promoted the vaccines.

Dr McCann spoke publicly about safety issues from the vaccines and the class action in February of 2023 and as a consequence, received a notification to AHPRA and the Medical Board.

In August 2023, the National Board ultimately issued a professional caution to Dr McCann that requires her to undertake a re-education program on the benefits and risks of the vaccines. Dr McCann is currently appealing this decision with the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT).