Proposed California Bill Would Punish Doctors Who “Promote COVID Misinformation” for Unprofessional Conduct

California lawmakers are targeting doctors who spread COVID-19 “misinformation” that contradicts the state narrative.

The latest proposed bill is another Orwellian initiative for California Democrats to strengthen authoritarian vaccination laws.

Assembly Member Evan Low (D-Campbell) introduced Assembly Bill 2098 on February 14, 2022, which would make it easier for the Medical Board of California to discipline doctors who promote COVID-19 misinformation by classifying it as unprofessional conduct.

In essence, healthcare in California relating to COVID information and treatments would become state-run and silence dissenters that question the status quo.

L👀K AT THIS 😬https://t.co/QwQuqAHQSM https://t.co/MXNCL4mKr4 pic.twitter.com/ROB31qZznz

— Nashville Angela (@angelanashtn) February 16, 2022

This bill would turn all health care in California into state run. AB 2098 by Assemblyman Evan Low would "designate the dissemination or promotion of misinformation or disinformation related to the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, or “COVID-19,” as unprofessional conduct. Pure evil. https://t.co/jKEnVWInUP

— Katy Grimes (@KATYSaccitizen) February 16, 2022

Assembly Bill 2098 states:

AB 2098, as introduced, Low. Physicians and surgeons: unprofessional conduct.

Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of physicians and surgeons by the Medical Board of California and the Osteopathic Medical Board of California. Existing law requires the applicable board to take action against any licensed physician and surgeon who is charged with unprofessional conduct, as provided.

This bill would designate the dissemination or promotion of misinformation or disinformation related to the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, or “COVID-19,” as unprofessional conduct. The bill would require the board to consider specified factors prior to bringing a disciplinary action against a physician and surgeon. The bill would also make findings and declarations in this regard.

Assemblymember Evan Low said of Assembly Bill 2098, “This bill declares that disinformation and promotion of COVID-19 misinformation and disinformation to the public as unprofessional conduct for licensed physicians and surgeons. Under this law, California Medical Boards will be given the tools necessary to bring discipline actions against a licensee. Due to their specialized knowledge and training, licensed physicians possess a high degree of public trust and therefore must be held to account. The spreading of misinformation, of inaccurate COVID-19 information, contradicts that responsibility and threatens to further erode the public trust in the medical profession and puts all patients at risk.”

Nick Sawyer, an emergency room doctor who created a group called No License for Disinformation, said the bill would affect a small group of doctors who spread blatantly inaccurate and extreme misinformation that a physician knows to be false, or that they should know to be false given their medical training. Sawyer said he believes the state’s medical board is authorized to go after those doctors now, but that the bill is needed because the agency has been slow to react.

“This isn’t a call for a policing of free speech,” Sawyer said. “This is a call for protecting the public against dangerous misinformation, which patients are parroting back to us in our emergency room departments every day.”

The California Medical Assn., a lobbying group representing doctors, has not taken a position on the bill but has previously supported legislation cracking down on doctors who undermine vaccine laws.

“Healthcare professionals are working around the clock to end the deadly pandemic, and misinformation has only prolonged it, making the work of our frontline healthcare workers more difficult and dangerous while harming community health,” Dr. Robert E. Wailes, the association’s president, said in a statement Tuesday.