A group of physicians has filed a lawsuit against California over a new law that targets medical professionals for spreading what the state determines to be Covid "misinformation."
The five doctors who joined the lawsuit say the law, which was signed by Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom last month and takes effect on Jan. 1, is not only unconstitutional but has already been weaponized against doctors who have shared their informed judgments on Covid treatments and risks.
The lawsuit was filed against Newsom, state Attorney General Rob Bonta, and the Medical Board of California and seeks to overturn the "unprofessional conduct" law and block its enforcement because even brief First Amendment violations constitute "irreparable harm."
The law "imposes a quintessential viewpoint-based restriction" by sanctioning "minority views" the board deems to diverge from an undefined "contemporary scientific consensus," the doctors claim, asking how methodologically it would determine this consensus.
Such enforcement is "impractical and borders on the absurd," chilling the speech of doctors by making them constantly guess what the board deems "consensus" at any given moment, which violates the 14th Amendment, the suit claims.
The plaintiffs include psychiatrist Aaron Kheriaty, who was fired by the University of California Irvine for refusing its Covid vaccine mandate based on his natural immunity. Kheriaty is also a complainant in the amended lawsuit against the Biden administration for colluding with social media to censor Covid wrongthink.
Also joining the lawsuit are epidemiologist Tracy Beth Hoeg, until recently a physician resident at UC Davis who is known for her research on Covid interventions; and Stanford University emergency room physician Ram Duriseti, who has "a manuscript in progress re-analyzing a mask randomized controlled trial" and has met with California senators' offices on Covid policy.
It's the second lawsuit filed against the Medical Board in recent months. Physicians for Informed Consent sued on administrative grounds this summer, claiming the board abuses its authority to shut down physicians who challenge "the government's ever-evolving, erratic, and contradictory public health Covid-19 edicts."
One year ago today, @UCIrvineSOM placed me on unpaid suspension after I challenged the UC vaccine mandate in federal court. They fired me the following month. Today I published this book. https://t.co/rEQWW23oGN pic.twitter.com/PaTMcOAqDb
— Aaron Kheriaty, MD (@akheriaty) November 1, 2022
Free Press International
[Freedom Is Not Free!]
