California moves to shut down "COVID misinformation"
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since he plays a doctor on TV, can we indict him?
The nonpartisan group Californians for Good Governance reported Monday night that the California Senate voted for an Orwellian bill that would allow the state medical board to designate doctors who don’t spout the party line on COVID as “unprofessional.” This would presumably lead to these docs losing their licenses for sharing their opinions. The bill now moves on to the House and then, after it’s been rubber-stamped by members, to Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk.
The Federation of State Medical Boards has released a statement warning that physicians who engage in the dissemination of COVID-19 vaccine misinformation or disinformation risk losing their medical license, and that physicians have a duty to provide their patients with accurate, science-based information.
So the state medical board will decide what doctors can and can’t say? “The board is made up of one half doctors and one half attorneys,” Senator Melissa Melendez (R-Lake Elsinore) said in June. “The attorneys are no more qualified than I am.” And what exactly ismisinformation? The bill provides us with a definition:
“Misinformation” means false information that is contradicted by contemporary scientific consensusto an extent where its dissemination constitutes gross negligence by the licensee. contrary to the standard of care.
The original bill contained the crossed-out words, which were amended to add the phrase “contrary to the standard of care.” Journalist Katy Grimes wrote in the California Globe about the “chilling” definition before that amendment had been adopted, but her words still ring true:
Many medical professionals have called this definition “medical tyranny.” Imagine if cancer was treated the same by this Legislature. Is there “contemporary scientific consensus” on treatments, and are physicians threatened with the loss of their licenses if they try new treatments or medications for cancer patients?
This bill will certainly face many legal challenges; in fact, the educational nonprofit organization Physicians for Informed Consent has already filed a First Amendment free speech lawsuit against the California Medical Board. Their lawsuit states:
AB 2098 and the Board’s position re Covid misinformation is anti-doctor, anti-public health, anti-science, and anti-free speech, which is why PIC is taking a stand for the constitutional rights of its members.
