Toxic drugs killed Canadian COVID-19 denier, not virus: coroner

Mak Parhar/Facebook

While prominent COVID-19 denier and flat-earther Mak Parhar tested positive for the virus after he died in November 2021, the BC Coroners Service has confirmed that’s not what caused his death.

In late October, Parhar shared that he was experiencing symptoms that included a sore throat, cough, excess phlegm, body aches, and chill due to an undisclosed illness.

“It’s definitely not CONVID [sic], because CONVID doesn’t exist,” he said.

He shared another video via Facebook Live on November 3, the day before his death, where he seemed more energetic but mentioned he’d been sick for three weeks.

His cause of death was unknown until this week when the coroner’s service shared the its report with the media.

“Despite a positive post-mortem COVID test result, there is no indication this illness played a role in Mr. Parhar’s death,” the coroner’s report reads.

Instead, the coroner’s office determined Parhar his cause of death was “ethanol and mixed illicit drug toxicity (fentanyl, cocaine).”

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The coroner service explains a family member called 911 after they found Parhar unresponsive in his bathroom at his New Westminster home around 6:30 am.

“Upon the arrival of BC Ambulance Service paramedics, it was evident that resuscitation would be futile, and Mr. Parhar was pronounced deceased at the scene,” the report reads.

“Upon physical examination at the scene by the attending coroner, Mr. Parhar was found lying on the floor. There was no observable traumatic injury, evidence of foul play, or evidence of acute self-harm.”

An uncapped syringe, a burnt spoon, and a glass pipe were found nearby.

The corners service added that Parhar hasn’t had a complicated medical history and no recent documentation which suggested issues with substance use, hospitalization, or previous opioid agonist treatment.

Parhar’s death was classified as accidental.

The last time he was seen alive was around midnight, the same day he was found dead.

The New Westminster resident rose to notoriety early in the pandemic when his yoga studio continued operating despite emergency orders to stop indoor exercise classes. At the time, Parhar claimed that SARS-CoV-2 could not survive the heat of hot yoga classes.

Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry debunked that claim.

In November 2020, Parhar was arrested and charged for repeatedly violating the Quarantine Act by failing to self-isolate after returning from a gathering of flat earth activists in the US.

Parhar made headlines again in February 2021 for live streaming a party at a West End apartment (illegal at the time due to COVID-19 gathering restrictions) where an attendee suggested Henry should kill herself.

With files from Megan Devlin