Physicians Face Revoked Licenses Over Unpopular Opinions or Questions about COVID Vaccines
by Julia Pierce, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – Several of America’s most prominent medical boards warn that doctors spreading alleged “misinformation or disinformation” about COVID-19 vaccines or the coronavirus could be suspended or have their licenses revoked.
The American Board of Internal Medicine, the American Board of Pediatrics, and the American Board of Family Medicine said they back the Federation of State Medical Board’s (FSMB) decision to take disciplinary action.
The move could impact medical professionals raising questions about COVID-19 vaccines and the coronavirus if the issues raised are deemed not “consensus-driven,” the FSMB suggested.
In a statement, FSMB noted that “Due to their specialized knowledge and training, licensed physicians possess a high degree of public trust and therefore have a powerful platform in society, whether they recognize it or not.”
It added that doctors “also have an ethical and professional responsibility to practice medicine in the best interests of their patients.”
Doctors, therefore, “must share information that is factual, scientifically grounded, and consensus-driven for the betterment of public health,” the FSMB stressed.
It noted a “dramatic increase in the dissemination of COVID-19 vaccine misinformation and disinformation by physicians and other health care professionals on social media platforms, online and in the media.”
Critics fear the unclear definition of “misinformation” and “disinformation” could leave physicians skeptical about the coronavirus and COVID-19 jabs exposed to unfair disciplinary actions.
Dr. Marianne Gausche-Hill, president of the American Board of Electrodiagnostic Medicine (ABEM), described misinformation and disinformation as “contrary to prevailing medical evidence, egregious in its scope, and impacting the health and safety of the public.”
Critics fear that physicians face “a new kind of tyranny” under which any doctor who states a differing opinion from the current consensus could be targeted.
Those on the license-revoking list include medical professionals who have questioned the current COVID-19 “consensus,” arguing that more is still learned about the virus.
Critics within the medical world view the threats as unethical and say it shuts the door to “creative exploration of alternative treatments” that could be studied for success.
The door does not swing both ways, Worthy News established. The ABEM Code of Professionalism says any ABEM-certified physician “must be committed to treating any person at any time,” whether vaccinated or not.
Yet many physicians reportedly refuse to treat unvaccinated persons, which critics say contradicts their Hippocratic-Oath. However, there were no signs yet that these physicians face disciplinary action.