[00:00:00]

Shawn Buckley

I’m very pleased to introduce our next guest, Dr. Chong Wong. Dr. Wong, we’ll start by asking you to state your full name for the record, spelling your first and last name.

You were distracted. Dr. Wong?

Dr. Chong Wong

Yes. I’m Dr. Wong.

Shawn Buckley

Can you please state your full name, and state your first and last name for the record?

Dr. Chong Wong

Yes, my first name is C-H-O-N-G, Chong, and the last name is W-O-N-G, Wong.

Shawn Buckley

Do you promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?

Dr. Chong Wong

I do.

Shawn Buckley

You are a family physician and also you are an integrative medicine physician, and you’ve been practising medicine since 1986.

Dr. Chong Wong

That’s correct.

Shawn Buckley

You were telling me earlier, when you and I were speaking, about a woman who was 44 that came to you. Can you share with us that story?

Dr. Chong Wong

Okay.

Shawn Buckley

So again, Dr. Wong, when you and I were talking earlier, you were telling me about some things that happened in your practice. You were telling me a story about a 44-year-old woman that came to your practice that had blood clots. Can you share that story with us?

Dr. Chong Wong

Yes, the lady came to me because she had heard about me and she wanted my opinion or support, I suppose. She came because she had a mass of blood clots all over her body. She was concerned because she had contacted the public health expert who was responsible for the PCR testing in Saskatchewan. Contacted her office and never got to talk to the doctor, but to the nurse.

From the nurse and what had happened, she actually had a photograph of the form that was presented to her. At the bottom of the page, my memory says, the box was checked off saying, “Continue schedule of vaccination.” Basically, no change. In other words, she said, “Get the second shot.” It was because of the first shot that she got the clots. So of course, she was obviously devastated by that.

Shawn Buckley

Can I back you up? She saw you before that happened, right? She saw you as a physician to get some medical advice?

Dr. Chong Wong

I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you.

Shawn Buckley

This 44-year-old woman that had gotten blood clots after getting her first shot, she had come to see you to get medical advice because of her condition. Am I right about that?

Dr. Chong Wong

Yes.

Shawn Buckley

And she asked you whether or not she should be vaccinated with her second shot. She was concerned about that?

Dr. Chong Wong

I think so. She needed some support, I think. That’s the idea.

Shawn Buckley

What was your recommendation to her? Did you recommend that she get her second shot?

Dr. Chong Wong

When I saw the form, I was actually quite shocked by it.

Shawn Buckley

She brought that form in with her when she saw you the first time?

Dr. Chong Wong

Pardon me?

Shawn Buckley

Did she bring that form with her when you saw her the first time?

Dr. Chong Wong

It was actually on her phone. It was a photograph of the form.

Shawn Buckley

She showed that to you the first time you met her when she came into the clinic.

Dr. Chong Wong

I’m sorry?

Shawn Buckley

David, can you turn my volume up? Dr. Wong is having trouble hearing me.

Dr. Wong, this woman comes into your clinic. And for the first time when you see her, is that when she’s showing you this form on her phone?

Dr. Chong Wong

That’s right.

Shawn Buckley

And she’s wanting advice from you as to whether or not she should get vaccinated a second time?

Dr. Chong Wong

I believe so and possibly, just mainly, for support, I think.

[00:05:00]

Shawn Buckley

Okay. What did you tell her?

Dr. Chong Wong

“No.” I said I was quite shocked by the box that was checked off to ask her to continue vaccination. She told me that she was told that, “Don’t blame it on the vaccine, it’s just your genetics.”

Shawn Buckley

This was a nurse that had contacted her and filled this box out, right?

Dr. Chong Wong

That’s right.

Shawn Buckley

Is it ethical for a nurse who hasn’t seen a patient to basically make the medical call and say that you should be vaccinated after you’ve had an adverse reaction?

Dr. Chong Wong

No, I don’t believe that’s ethical, at all.

Shawn Buckley

My understanding is you referred her to a hematologist, who also was of the opinion she should not get vaccinated.

Dr. Chong Wong

She actually had seen a hematologist already.

Shawn Buckley

Okay.

Dr. Chong Wong

She told me the hematologist also told her not to get the second dose. She told me that the hematologist was very careful and giving that advice because he was concerned, apparently.

Shawn Buckley

Now, my understanding is that, in your practice as a physician during the COVID experience, people came to you asking for a medical exemption.

Dr. Chong Wong

That’s correct.

Shawn Buckley

Can you tell me, with some of these people, can you share the experience you had and what ended up happening?

Dr. Chong Wong

Yes, there’s a number of people. I’ll give you an example. A man who basically represents the whole group. He comes to me because he’s not vaccinated and he chooses not to be vaccinated. And because of that status, he’s not allowed to work. The company, like its policy would be to let him go, unpaid. And my understanding too is that he will not be qualified for employment insurance as well.

So I remember seeing this man coming in. He’s obviously very stressed and devastated— basically in tears, a full-grown man, probably in his 40s. When I saw him, I realized that this man is disabled. He cannot work.

Shawn Buckley

And that’s because he was suffering from mental illness because of the stress?

Dr. Chong Wong

That’s right. Because he wasn’t able to sleep well and can’t focus, the signs of depression and anxiety and not eating well. I said, “I think you’re disabled.” And I suggested that I would be more than happy to take him out of work on disability.

Shawn Buckley

Right. And then my understanding is that this happened a couple of times where people came in and, actually, as you assess them, you came to realize that they were disabled.

Dr. Chong Wong

That’s correct.

Shawn Buckley

My understanding is, every time, the disability insurance company then hired a psychiatrist to see if they were basically under a disability. And that psychiatrist agreed with you every time.

Dr. Chong Wong

That’s right.

Shawn Buckley

Okay. What you were actually experiencing, then, is by the time people came to you, asking for you to write an exemption for them, they actually had already reached that state in their lives where they were disabled.

Dr. Chong Wong

That’s right.

Shawn Buckley

They weren’t seeking help from people like you early enough.

Dr. Chong Wong

That’s right.

Shawn Buckley

Okay. And literally, you would see grown men crying in your office.

Dr. Chong Wong

Pardon me?

Shawn Buckley

Literally, you’d see grown men crying in your office, they were so stressed.

Dr. Chong Wong

Yes, you can see the stress on their faces, how they behave. Yes, it was really quite a moving— Those experiences have been very challenging for me personally as well, seeing that.

Shawn Buckley

Can you share with us why it was stressful for you?

Dr. Chong Wong

Yeah. Just seeing the struggles they go through, that they are intimidated basically by what’s happening. It’s almost like their back was against the wall. There are no answers to what they can do. Because they have families to look after. You can’t collect EI. I think it was just fortunate

[00:10:00]

that I thought about it, that I can take them out on disability. I’ve seen not just one but a number of them that way. It’s so heart-wrenching to see full grown men in tears and so much stress because, as you know, men are the providers. And so proud of their work as providers. And here are these men that are just, like, broken. They’re broken when they come see me.

Shawn Buckley

My understanding is also, you saw people really broken because of the lockdowns. Can you share with us about that?

Dr. Chong Wong

Yes. There’s this one lady, for example, of 44. I’d seen her before; it was still during the pandemic. And that was probably about a year, a year and a half ago. She was actually quite together and a very happy person. But by the time I saw her again— I saw her once around Christmas time too I remember, and then once maybe a couple months ago. And she was definitely a different person.

You can tell that she had a lot of anxiety. She’s thinking about— She really believes she’s going to die. And she just did not see any light at the end of the tunnel. When she was sitting there, talking, she was moving around, kind of a strange body behaviour. I asked her, “What’s happening there.” And she would say, “Well, my back’s very tight.” She was moving as she was talking. I think well, what is this? Anxiety, I gathered. And she has this kind of odd behaviour.

I’ve seen a number of cases like that: people who’ve really been hard done by, by the lockdown and isolation and so on. In this case, she was very fortunate. She saw a practitioner who helped her. I found out that the practitioner himself had made a house call to see her. Just in the last while, she’s up and down but she’s actually improved a lot. That practitioner who made a house call actually has driven her to his clinic. But now she’s strong enough, she doesn’t have to be driven. She walks over; it’s only a few blocks away from the clinic that the practitioner is working. I saw her once as well and I was really happy that she made progress.

Shawn Buckley

Right. Now, when you were dealing with people—so she’s doing well now—but when we were in the pandemic and you were seeing people basically being broken by the lockdowns, how did that affect you as a physician?

Dr. Chong Wong

Yeah, it’s been tough after seeing quite a few of them. Often, you see these stories over and over again. It kind of gets to you, you know? But the silver lining, I suppose, is that it forced me to learn to take care of myself even better. I do things to help de-stress and help myself. And so I think I’ve learned a few things about myself, as well.

Recently, I’ve been invited to groups of health care practitioners, for example. Before Christmas, there was probably 40 to 50 of them. Most of them—I think, 40 were practitioners—but they were non-MD practitioners. Recently, as late as this past Monday, there was about 16 of us that got together. I was invited again. These people gave me hope. Because I’m convinced that, for them, money is not the main focus here. They want to help people. They have ways to help people who cannot afford it so they can get the services—like less pay—and maybe other services they can do and so on. So that gives me hope that the people out there want to help.

Shawn Buckley

Okay. So as a physician, you found yourself in a position where, because it was difficult, all these people coming to you,

[00:15:00]

you actually had to start taking better care of yourself because you were being affected by all of the grief and harm that you were experiencing through your patients?

Dr. Chong Wong

That’s right.

Shawn Buckley

But what you’re experiencing right now is that there’s a group of health care practitioners. They’re not medical doctors, they’re from different disciplines. But they’re coming together as a group to try and help people heal who have been through this experience?

Dr. Chong Wong

That’s correct.

Shawn Buckley

Both to deal with their physical problems and also just to give each other hope?

Dr. Chong Wong

Yes, true.

Shawn Buckley

Okay. It’s kind of an example of a group in Saskatoon that’s forming to help us get out of this.

Dr. Chong Wong

Yes.

Shawn Buckley

Do they have a website or something that people in Saskatoon can go to?

Dr. Chong Wong

Yes. This group I’ve been invited to, the website is www.onewellnessnetwork.ca. That’s the website.

Shawn Buckley

Okay. That’s a group that you’re joining and you’re finding this very helpful.

Dr. Chong Wong

That’s correct.

Shawn Buckley

I wanted to ask you some questions. You had one interaction with the College of Physicians and Surgeons. Can you tell us about that?

Dr. Chong Wong

Yes, it was about an 85-year-old man, very robust in a lot of ways. He did have prostate cancer. But he was going to the cabin. He was painting. I talked to his son just today. He was really healthy. And then one day, he— He already had contacted me many months ago for ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine. He knew he wanted that, just in case.

It turns out this man, he got sick, almost like a cold or something, I’m not sure what it was. They’re not sure why. Because he told me, when I met him, he said, “Chong, I do not want to go to the hospital when I’m sick.” For whatever reason, he got sick. He wasn’t that sick because the son told me that the ambulance came—it took about three hours to get there, he says—and he actually walked out to the ambulance. He was short of breath somewhat, but wasn’t super sick.

When he went to the hospital, the pharmacist had an interview and asked him what medication he was on. Of course, he says, among other things, he was on ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine. He said, “What doctor gave you that?” He said, “Dr. Wong.” “Oh, I see.”

So the pharmacist made a complaint against me because of that and the College had to respond. They always have to respond to all complaints. They wrote me a letter asking me for an explanation why I’m doing that.

I wrote the letter in response. I sent them my notes because I do believe in informed consent. I told this man, I said, “Officially, these medications are not recognized as being helpful for COVID. And officially, it’s not helpful and may do more harm than good for you. If you really want it, I’ll prescribe for you, but this is what is official.” And so on. I had all that documented and all the notes were sent to the College.

I had a lawyer from CMPA [Canadian Medical Protective Association], that’s my insurance. With some counsel advice, I decided to switch lawyers. I switched to a lawyer from JCCF [Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms] in Calgary and I’m glad I did. This lawyer from CMPA was very nice. I was very hesitant to let him go because he was such a nice lawyer. But I finally explained to him that I have a better fit for a lawyer, thank you for all your help, and so on. We had an amicable departure.

Anyhow, going back to this, I wrote the letter with some minor changes with a new lawyer. And then I got the letter from the College finally. To my surprise, the College didn’t say anything about ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine at all in the letter. That’s my surprise. The only thing that they told me is to make better notes next time.

[00:20:00]

Shawn Buckley

Dr. Wong had you ever, pre-COVID, had a complaint where a pharmacist would literally complain to the College of Physicians and Surgeons because you had written a prescription? Had that ever happened in your career?

Dr. Chong Wong

I have not had any of that.

Shawn Buckley

Okay. It just strikes me as odd. It just strikes me that the physicians are the ones who are experts in treating patients and I wouldn’t expect a pharmacist to have the authority to complain to the College because a physician has written a prescription. And that had never happened to you before.

Dr. Chong Wong

I’ve never experienced that before.

Shawn Buckley

So that was a new one. How were other physicians? You had patients come in to you and reporting about how other physicians were treating patients who were unvaccinated. Can you share with us what you experienced from other patients about physicians treating them differently?

Dr. Chong Wong

Yes, I work in a Mediclinic, that means I see people I do not know, a walk-in clinic, right? I also see my own patients, so I get to have a very broad spectrum of people. I’m fortunate that way. And because I’m interested in the COVID pandemic and so on, the medication, the vaccine, I always ask questions of people, so I can learn more about what’s happening out there in the community.

I heard it quite a few times where they would say, “My family doctor, when I told him I do not want to be vaccinated, he was just after me,” he says, “very rude and told me to get it. I’ve lost totally trust in my doctor now.” And they ask me quite often also, “Do you still accept patients?” Myself.  I say, “Thanks for asking. I’m sorry, I’m full, I cannot accept you, but if you happen to come to the clinic, I’m more than happy to see you as a walk-in.”

Shawn Buckley

Dr. Wong, I don’t have any further questions of you, but perhaps the commissioners do.

Thank you, Dr. Wong. On behalf of the National Citizens Inquiry, I sincerely thank you for testifying today.

Dr. Chong Wong

You’re welcome.

[00:23:02]

Final Review and Approval: Jodi Bruhn, August 21, 2023.

The evidence offered in this transcript is a true and faithful record of witness testimony given during the National Citizens Inquiry (NCI) hearings. The transcript was prepared by members of a team of volunteers using an “intelligent verbatim” transcription method.

For further information on the transcription process, method, and team, see the NCI website:https://nationalcitizensinquiry.ca/about-these-transcripts/

Credentials

• Degrees in physiology (M.Sc. 1978) and medicine (M.D. 1984)
• Fellowship in Integrative Medicine University of Arizona 2008

Summary

Dr. Wong is a family physician, an integrative medicine physician and has been practicing medicine since 1986. He recounts his experiences with many patients, including those dealing with vaccine adverse events and mental illness due to stress from the vaccine mandates and lockdowns. For many, this resulted in a disability diagnosis by Dr. Wong and an inability to work. The experience of seeing so many patients in this state was very difficult for him.

A pharmacist complained to the College of Physicians and Surgeons about a prescription made for ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine; however, Dr. Wong was cleared of any misconduct.

He has joined a group of health care professionals to focus on self-care and wellness. They support each other, provide hope and focus on working as a group to help people heal.

 

Website:  www.onewellnessnetwork.ca