The Kafkaesque Conviction of Dr. Jozef Krop

After 9 years of investigation and 37 days of hearings spread out over 4 years, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) has decided that Ontario environmental-medicine physician Dr. Jozef Krop fails “to meet the standard of practice in the Province of Ontario.” This judgement seems to reflect more on the capriciousness and viciousness of the CPSO than on any shortcomings of Dr. Krop. His story is a sobering one.

The investigation of Dr. Krop began just over 10 years ago, on January 5, 1989. Unlike any common criminal—but like Kafka’s protagonist in The Trial—Dr. Krop does not know to this day the basis for the investigation. Who accused him? Of what? Every effort by his lawyers to obtain disclosure by the CPSO, as legally mandated, was stonewalled. Ultimately, under cross-examination, CPSO investigator Leah Tunney explained that all the files pertaining to the commencement of this case had been “shredded, as is the practice” of the CPSO! Then, Dr. Krop was ordered by Deputy-Registrar Dr. John Carlisle to provide scientific evidence for his diagnostic and treatment methods; he complied by handing in several pounds of documentation. In cross-examination, Dr. Carlisle stated that he never read any of it, nor had he considered it necessary to give it to anybody else to read. It appears that the CPSO may have been more interested in reaching a predetermined outcome than in evaluating the facts of Dr. Krop’s case. In September 1989, Dr. Carlisle sent an internal memo to his superior, Registrar Dr. M. Dixon, ominously indicating, “This may be a costly and lengthy process, but may be the only way of finally, once and for all, dealing with these clinical ecologists,” a motive confirmed by Dr. Dixon in cross-examination.

The formal charges against Dr. Krop are truly bizarre: he is charged with suggesting a patient drink pure water, get an air purifier, avoid hydro towers, undergo acupuncture therapy, and eat organically grown foods. He is also charged with diagnosing multiple chemical sensitivity without referring those patients to a psychiatrist, diagnosing food allergies, sick building syndrome, systemic candidiasis, and poisoning by neurotoxic and lung-damaging solvents listed in all industrial toxicology manuals, and with prescribing vitamin C, calcium, magnesium, evening primrose oil, and antifungal medication. These accusations were upheld by the CPSO Disciplinary Committee in the face of many contradictions. First, the Canada Health Act has for the past 11 years had a special section protecting all alternative medical practices, as specified by the Helsinki Accord on human rights, which Canada signed in 1988. Second, for the past 11 years, Canadian tax law has provided a specific section for tax relief for chemically injured individuals. Third, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation was the world’s first government organization to develop housing safe for people suffering from chemical sensitivities. Finally, 14 years ago, the Ontario government, ironically, commissioned the Thomson Report on Environmental Hypersensitivity Disorders, which provided the world-wide impetus for the first international, government-sponsored medical conferences on this issue. The final irony is that this heralded report relied on evidence from Dr. Krop’s practice as one of its primary sources!

Despite the fact that environmental medicine has exploded as a field of research in the last 10 years and has become a major focus in virtually every medical school, the CPSO rejected all scientific literature since 1990, simply declaring it all as “lacking in authority of acceptable scientific evidence.” Finally, although the committee repeatedly observed that no evidence of any harm to Dr. Krop’s patients was found, it was determined that Dr. Krop “fell below the standard of medical practice.”

In Kafka’s famous 1920s novel, The Trial, the hero is told, “You can’t defend yourself against this court, all you can do is confess.” The hero replies, “A single hangman could replace this entire court.” The CPSO does not reign supreme in Ontario as “The Court” did in Kafka’s cautionary parable. Therefore, Dr. Krop does not intend to accept this verdict, but will continue to resist the surrealistic disciplinary process to which he has been subjected. In the meantime, access to expanded health care options for Canadians remain at risk.

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Last Modified: Wednesday, October 20, 1999.