Former Christchurch doctor fined for misleading videos on HIV and gonorrhoea
Tuesday 6 October 2026 · 2 outlets · 2 reports · updated In this story TVNZ, Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal
Samantha Bailey has been fined $17,000 and ordered to pay over $70,000 in costs for professional misconduct. The Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal found her guilty of making videos containing discredited claims about HIV, AIDS and gonorrhoea. The tribunal noted she had previously had her medical registration cancelled.
Key facts
4 facts
- Samantha Annabel Hope Bailey was fined $17,000 and ordered to pay $70,705.77 in costs
- The misconduct involved four videos published between March and May 2022
- Bailey's medical registration was cancelled in May 2024
- The videos made claims about HIV, AIDS, and gonorrhoea
The full story
1 min read · 2 outlets
A former Christchurch doctor has been fined $17,000 and ordered to pay $70,705.77 in costs for professional misconduct. The Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal found Samantha Annabel Hope Bailey guilty of making misleading claims in four videos regarding HIV, AIDS, and gonorrhoea. The tribunal stated that if Bailey had still been registered, they would have cancelled her registration.
The videos, published between March and May 2022, included claims that there was no proof an HIV retrovirus existed and that HIV was not a sexually transmitted infection. In a video about gonorrhoea, Bailey referred to the disease as “germ theory nonsense”. The tribunal noted the videos used “tone, facial expression, memes and sarcasm to undermine the mainstream scientific view”.
Bailey's practising certificate had expired in May 2021, and the tribunal ruled that by publishing medical advice under the name “Dr Sam Bailey”, she was practising medicine without a current certificate. This conduct was considered more culpable because the videos were published while a previous disciplinary case regarding Covid-19 videos was already pending.
Bailey's registration was previously cancelled in May 2024 following a case involving 23 Covid-19 videos. In that earlier case, she was fined $10,000 and ordered to pay approximately $148,000 to $150,000 in costs.
Where reports differ
- One report states the fine was $17,000, while another describes the total of fines and costs as $87,000
Compiled from reports by Stuff and The Press.
