Olivier Bernard (pharmacist)
Olivier Bernard, known as the Pharmafist, is a Canadian science communicator who uses cartoons to counter pseudo-scientific myths. He writes the Pharmafist blog, the Pharmachien books and produces the television program Les aventures du pharmachien, denouncing ineffective or dangerous treatments.
Biography
Bernard started working as a pharmacist upon receiving his B.Pharm. in 2004 from Université Laval in Quebec City. He subsequently completed, in 2006, a master's degree in pharmacogenetics and worked for some time in the pharmaceutical industry.Disillusioned by the industry's business practices, Bernard quit in 2013. He still works as a part-time pharmacist as he makes a name for himself as a scientific communicator, writes books, produces a television program and gives conferences.
"There was a constant conflict between the commercial side and pharmaceutics." - Olivier Bernard, The Pharmafist
He's been sharing his comments on medicine and pseudoscience on lepharmachien.com since 2012 and in English on theharmafist.com, since 2016. Bernard uses a colourful style, described by emergency physician Alain Vadeboncoeur as "friendly, but confident, perhaps a little of a smart-ass", but "he does not attack people, only practices, ideas and concepts." As a science communicator, Bernard says he's influenced by Vadeboncoeur, as well as astrophysicists Hubert Reeves and Neil deGrasse Tyson.
Web activity
Through his website, the Pharmafist aims to "destroy scientific myths and health beliefs and encourages people to develop critical thinking and to make better choices about vaccines, gluten, nutritional complements, sugar or useless cold medicines."In March 2019, Bernard was targeted by an intimidation and doxing campaign from groups supporting the use of vitamin C injections as a treatment for cancer, after demonstrating this practice promoted by alternative medicine practitioners is not supported by scientific evidence. He publicly denounced the degree of hostility unleashed on him and his spouse.
In 2017, his French Facebook page had 144,000 subscribers. The lepharmachien.com website logged 350,000 visits per month.
"One question I often ask myself is: Just how much must I make the content accessible? Reaching a good balance between a short, punchy text and rigorous content is always a challenge." - Olivier Bernard, the Pharmafist
Books
| Year | Title |
| 2014 | Le Pharmachien : Différencier le vrai du n'importe quoi en santé ! |
| 2015 | Le Pharmachien 2 : Guide de survie pour petits et grands bobos |
| 2017 | Le Pharmachien tome 3: La bible des arguments qui n'ont pas d'allure |
| 2018 | Le petit garçon qui posait trop de questions |
Television series
Three seasons of the documentary series Les aventures du Pharmachien have been aired by ICI Explora. They feature Olivier Bernard in his role as the Pharmafist, offering a scientific viewpoint on health care, through experiments, interviews, cartoons and humour. Bernard is identified as host and content producer of the program for DATSIT Studios.In the program, Bernard experiments on himself with many treatments he denounces as being ineffective: natural sunscreen, homeopathic solutions, products meant to change the acidity of one's urine.
The initial broadcast of the first episode was seen by a total of 363,000 people on Radio-Canada's various platforms. A second broadcast two days later attracted 43,000 more.
| Episodes season 1 | Episodes season 2 | Episodes season 3 |
| Started December 2, 2016 | Started December 1, 2017 | Started December 14, 2018 |
| La détox du foie | Le cannabis médical | L'ostéopathie |
| L'alimentation bio | Les OGM | La diète cétogène |
| L'effet placebo | Le TDAH | L'autisme |
| La diète alcaline | Les suppléments alimentaires pour sportifs | L'alimentation végétalienne |
| Les régimes | La pilule contraceptive | L'accouchement |
| La crème solaire | Les thérapies énergétiques | La maladie de Lyme |
| Les jus | Le lait | Les métaux lourds |
| Les produits naturels | Les traitements contre le cancer | Les vitamines |
| L'hypnose | Le jeûne | Les antibiotiques |
| Le gluten | L'intestin et le microbiote | Tests médicaux et dépistage |
| Les superaliments | L'allaitement | Maladies causées par les émotions |
| Les ondes électromagnétiques | L'alcool | Allergies et intolérances alimentaires |
| Le système immunitaire | Les produits cosmétiques | Les eaux |
| L'homéopathie | ||
| Les vaccins |
Distinctions
2014: Prix Sceptique, Les sceptiques du Québec.2015: Prix Innovation, Ordre des pharmaciens du Québec.
2018: Prix Coup de Coeur, ASPQ.
2019: John Maddox Prize for defending science
Personal life
Bernard is from Beauport, which is now a borough of Quebec City. He has been living in Montreal since 2006. He is in a relationship with author India Desjardins. In Winter 2017, Bernard shared with university magazine Contact that starting a family is not out of the question.I was always a skeptic. I was constantly challenging my parents and my teachers, as early as elementary school. - Olivier Bernard, The Pharmafist
Passionate about the outdoors, Bernard gets his energy from expeditions in nature.