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Doctors Spreading COVID-19 Vaccine Misinformation

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(As published recently in cleveland.com)

Should a physician who spreads misinformation on coronavirus vaccines lose his medical license?  Would this violate the doctor’s right to free speech?  Shouldn’t physicians be able to offer their patients counsel and advice that differs from mainstream medical thought? 

Every profession has ethical and legal requirements to maintain the integrity of the profession as well as the public trust.

·      If an attorney lies to a judge, then this lawyer can expect to be severely sanctioned. 

·      If a public-school teacher instructs science students that the world was created exactly as recorded in the Book of Genesis, then professional repercussions are expected.

·      If a police officer is discovered to have planted evidence to justify an arrest, then the officer will likely face criminal penalties.

In the medical profession, there are also professional and ethical boundaries that practitioners must respect.  Consider these flagrant violations.

·      A doctor falsifies a medical record to buttress his legal defense in a medical malpractice case.

·      A physician accepts a kickback for sending referrals to a colleague.

·      A physician performs unnecessary procedures to make money.

·      A doctor submits false documentation when applying for hospital privileges.

Such breaches may very well jeopardize the doctor’s professional standing and even his personal liberty. 

This past July, the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) stated that doctors who spread misinformation on Covid-19 vaccines risk disciplinary action which could include revocation of their medical licenses.  The FSMB instructs that physicians are obligated to share medical advice that accords with sound science and medical judgment.

The State Medical Board of Ohio requires every licensed physician to report misconduct which includes, among other behaviors, a colleague practicing below minimal standards.  Indeed, a physician who fails to report suspected misconduct to the Board may face disciplinary actions.


                         

Hippocrates, remember him?


One would expect that physicians who promote false information regarding Covid-19 vaccines would be ripe for sanction.  Remember the Ohio physician who testified before a House Health Committee hearing this past June that coronavirus vaccines magnetize recipients?  In the doctor’s own words, “… they can put a key on their forehead. It sticks.  They can put spoons and forks all over them and they can stick...”  The Plain Dealer recently reported that her medical license was just renewed by the State Medical Board of Ohio for 2 years, an automated process that does not mean she is not also under a confidential disciplinary investigation.  Let’s hope that the Board does the right thing.

Her testimony might make for a compelling Twilight Zone script, but it has no place in the medical landscape.  This is not a free speech issue. It’s a competency issue.  

Governing bodies of professions have rules and standards that must be enforced if they are to mean anything. 

Scientific support for coronavirus vaccines is overwhelming - much more solid than for many other standard medical treatments that physicians prescribe every day.  I wish that my own advice to patients was in the range of >90% effective with almost zero risk of serious complications. 

Millions of Americans have become ill and hundreds of thousands have died from this virus.  And there will be more to come.  If a medical practitioner is advising against coronavirus vaccines on medical grounds, or recommends ivermectin as a treatment or promotes misinformation that risks the health of patients and the community, then please sell your snake oil elsewhere.  You took an oath upon becoming a doctor.  And if you willfully violate it, as well as the medical profession’s clear standards, then you should be called to account.  We physicians must denounce anyone who purveys deception and misinformation that threatens everyone’s health, even if it is one of our own.  





 

 

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