Patrick Provost, a full professor in the Department of Microbiology, Infectious diseases and Immunology at the Faculty of Medicine of Laval University, is currently suspended without pay for a second time for his criticism of COVID-19 vaccination in children. On Feb. 14, the university unexpectedly reversed course and abandoned a third disciplinary process against him which could have led to his firing. Provost’s first suspension around the same issue lasted two months last summer, while his current suspension is for four months.
The latest episode of the saga relates to a complaint sent to the university on Jan. 6 which flagged a scientific article published by Provost and Dr. Hélène Banoun, a French pharmacist and biologist critical of COVID-19 measures. The complainant questioned the credibility of the Faculty of Medicine of Laval University when seeing Provost’s name on articles that suggest the vaccine causes a large number of deaths. The article, which was posted on the pre-prints website Research Square and published in the International Journal of Vaccine Theory, Practice and Research, concluded that “most health-related events experienced by patients vaccinated against COVID-19 occurred beyond the 6-week period prescribed by the health authorities” and called for further investigations and an extension of the post-vaccination AE (adverse events) reporting period.
After analyzing Provost’s version of events and the documents provided during a meeting, Vice-Dean André Darveau wrote in a Feb. 14 letter to Provost that the allegations with regards to his potential breach of principles 5, 6, and 7 of the Policy were unfounded. Principles 5, 6, and 7 refer to conducting honest research while respecting academic freedom, treating data with rigour, and releasing research results in a responsible way. Provost believes that the robust support from his peers, such as the letter signed by 280 Laval professors sent to university leadership in early February criticizing the previous sanctions, could have had an impact in the university not going forward with processing the third complaint.
In a statement to The Epoch Times, Provost criticized how easily Laval University accepts complaints from the public and suggested the institution should instead facilitate a dialogue between the complainant and the subject of the complaint. Provost has written several scientific articles in recent months, with one of his latest discussing factors leading to the under-reporting of adverse events following COVID-19 vaccination. The Epoch Times contacted Laval University for comment but didn’t hear back immediately.