Appeal court upholds ban on 'cancer coaching' former Alberta doctor
William Makis cannot use medical titles or represent himself as licensed to practise medicine, a permanent injunction ruled by Alberta's highest court.
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Alberta's highest court has refused to hear an appeal from William Makis, a former doctor who promoted alternative cancer treatments, leaving in place a permanent court order barring him from representing himself as someone licensed to practise medicine.
Makis has not been licensed to practise medicine in Alberta since February 2019. Since then, he has operated what he describes as a "cancer coaching" service, offering information to clients about alternative cancer treatments—including ivermectin—through social media, YouTube, and other online platforms. He claims to have provided advice to over 8,500 people globally, including children.
A permanent court injunction delivered in March forbids him from using titles, abbreviations, or initials, including "doctor," "Dr," or "oncologist."
Makis applied to the Alberta Court of Appeal seeking permission to challenge the injunction, arguing his activities amounted to "health coaching" rather than the practice of medicine. He also claimed the injunction infringed his Charter free-expression rights and that he has since moved to Florida where he was conditionally approved to practise medicine.
Justice Kevin Feth rejected those arguments, writing that "granting permission to appeal is not in the interests of justice." Feth noted the injunction applies to Makis's activities in Alberta regardless of where his clients are located and that the trial judge's conclusion that "calling something 'health coaching' does not mean that someone is not practicing medicine" had no basis to be overturned.
Makis was a nuclear medicine physician at the Cross Cancer Institute until October 2016, when his contract was not renewed after complaints of professional misconduct.