{"id":2290290,"date":"2024-07-08T03:18:01","date_gmt":"2024-07-08T07:18:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/court-doctors-can-sue-tyrannical-credentialing-boards\/"},"modified":"2024-07-08T03:22:14","modified_gmt":"2024-07-08T07:22:14","slug":"court-doctors-can-sue-tyrannical-credentialing-boards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/court-doctors-can-sue-tyrannical-credentialing-boards\/","title":{"rendered":"Court: Doctors Can Sue Tyrannical Credentialing Boards"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcourt-doctors-can-sue-tyrannical-credentialing-boards%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2290290&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>In a landmark case, an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/after-judiciary-committee-deadlocks-ketanji-brown-jackson-advances-to-senate-confirmation-vote\/\" title=\"After Judiciary Committee Deadlocks, Ketanji Brown Jackson Advances To Senate Confirmation Vote\">appellate court judge<\/a> \u200bruled that physicians threatened by credentialing boards for speaking out \u2063against Covid policies and abortion have sufficient standing in \u2062court. The\u2062 Association of American\u2062 Physicians and Surgeons filed an appeal for the right to sue several boards and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for attempting to censor the speech of \u200bphysicians critical of certain \u2064topics. \u2064The case has now been remanded\u200b for further legal proceedings. The lawsuit highlights ongoing attacks on physicians who\u200d express dissenting views and \u200dthe\u200b importance of \u2062protecting freedom of \u200dspeech in the medical field. The case is seen as crucial for physicians&#8217; ability to practice independently without \u2062fear of censorship by credentialing \u2063boards.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>In a <a href=\"https:\/\/cases.justia.com\/federal\/appellate-courts\/ca5\/23-40423\/23-40423-2024-06-03.pdf?ts=1717435815\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">landmark case<\/a>, an appellate court judge has ruled that physicians threatened by credentialing boards for speaking out against Covid policies and abortion have sufficient standing in court.<\/p>\n<p>A year after the case was dismissed by a district court, the <a href=\"https:\/\/aapsonline.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS)<\/a> Educational Foundation filed an appeal for the right to sue the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.abim.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">American Board of Internal Medicine<\/a>, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.abog.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology<\/a>, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theabfm.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">American Board of Family Medicine<\/a>, and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dhs.gov\/topics\/secretary-homeland-security\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security<\/a> for \u201ccoordinated\u201d attempts to \u201ccensor and chill the speech of physicians,\u201d especially those \u201cwho spoke critically of positions taken by Dr. Anthony Fauci, lockdowns, mask mandates, Covid vaccination, and abortion.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wow-georgia-judge-who-also-is-stacy-abrams-sister-blocks-elections-officials-from-challenging-voters-who-live-outside-of-registered-district\/\" title=\"WOW! Georgia Judge Who Also Is Stacy Abrams\u2019 Sister BLOCKS Elections Officials from Challenging Voters Who Live Outside of Registered District!\">district court judge<\/a> had ruled AAPS lacked standing and denied AAPS\u2019s attempt to amend the claim. But in a <a href=\"https:\/\/law.justia.com\/cases\/federal\/appellate-courts\/ca5\/23-40423\/23-40423-2024-06-03.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">decision<\/a> filed June 3, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit reversed the dismissal, and the case has now been remanded to a lower court for discovery and potentially a full trial.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Censorship, Threats<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>\u201cThe AAPS Educational Foundation brought the case because of a series of physicians who were being threatened with loss of their board certification because they had made comments that were either critical of the Covid vaccines or that advocated for early treatment with repurposed drugs,\u201d Jane Orient, AAPS executive director, told me. \u201cParticularly bad were the three defendants of the internal board who were also engaged in threatening physicians who supported the overturning of <em>Roe v. Wade<\/em> or had anything to say about abortion and its side effects.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The claimants also identified unlawful actions taken by Homeland Security\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dhs.gov\/publication\/disinformation-governance-board\">Disinformation Governance Board<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe DGB was devoted to seeking out and finding \u2018disinformation,\u2019 \u2018malinformation,\u2019 and, or pressuring people, including those on specialty boards and social media companies, to take action,\u201d Orient said.<\/p>\n<p>The government has since <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dhs.gov\/news\/2022\/08\/24\/following-hsac-recommendation-dhs-terminates-disinformation-governance-board\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">disbanded<\/a> the board and claims no responsibility for its actions, but AAPS wants the government held accountable. \u201cThey can just disperse the function over their agencies or just move and start one up again,\u201d Orient said.<\/p>\n<p>Physicians were specifically threatened based on their public comments, hearing testimonies, press comments, and letters to the editor, Orient said. Doctors were also targeted for prescribing perfectly legal medications that went against the narrative.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Ongoing Attacks<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Attacks by these credentialing boards continue, the suit reads, as they label \u201cdissenting views as misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation\u201d and threaten to revoke the certification of \u201cotherwise qualified physicians who express such views.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A professor of medicine and an academic physician for over three decades, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.petermcculloughmd.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Dr. Peter McCullough<\/a> moved into independent practice two years ago when he was effectively forced out of academic practice.<\/p>\n<p>One of the first physicians to <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/32771461\/\">publish<\/a> an at-home treatment protocol for Covid-19 in 2020 in the peer-reviewed literature, McCullough played a critical role in developing a worldwide standard and treatment guide for AAPS.<\/p>\n<p>But after ABIM instituted a Covid-19 misinformation <a href=\"https:\/\/www.abim.org\/media-center\/press-releases\/joint-statement-on-dissemination-of-misinformation\/#:~:text=Spreading%20misinformation%20or%20falsehoods%20to,against%20COVID%2D19%20is%20overwhelming.\">policy<\/a> in 2021, the board retroactively accused McCullough of misinformation based on a March 2021 Texas Senate <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=QAHi3lX3oGM\">testimony<\/a> when he began to publicly question the safety, efficacy, and durability of the vaccine.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey came out with the policy with no teaching modules, no updates, without equal protection, without any type of due process and they accused me of \u2018spreading misinformation,\u2019\u201d McCullough told me. \u201cI then provided documentation and evidence [to the board] supporting all of my points. The board had a closed meeting, and said that nothing I put in my response document had convinced them.\u201d McCullough said he was given 10 days to appeal the process; he did. Since the fall of 2022, his case has been in a very prolonged appeal process. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was very productive, I was previously one of the most published persons in my field of cardiorenal medicine, and I have become one of the most published in Covid-19,\u201d McCullough said. \u201cI was released from two jobs at a major medical center officially for no reason.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><strong>\u2018Viewpoint-Based Censorship<\/strong>\u2018<\/h2>\n<p>The case against the specialty boards is crucial for physicians\u2019 freedom of practice. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.beckershospitalreview.com\/hospital-physician-relationships\/nearly-80-physicians-now-employed-by-hospitals-corporations-report-finds.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Most<\/a> practice in hospitals and are involved in multiple insurance panels requiring credentials from boards like ABIM.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese boards virtually have a monopoly on physicians to earn a living from their profession,\u201d Orient said. \u201cThey may have a medical license and private practice, but insurance companies will not reimburse for their practices, or the hospital will boot them off the staff [if they aren\u2019t credentialed]. So it\u2019s a very powerful disincentive for physicians to go against the narrative.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Before 2021, censorship of this magnitude was unheard of, Orient said. \u201cDoctors could always freely discuss things. They could always criticize, and they might have someone complain or criticize them. But this is just the specialty board attacking them, no patient complaints. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.physicianleaders.org\/articles\/mission-abim-foundation-richard-baron-podcast\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Richard Baron<\/a>, former head of ABIM, instigated many of the letters that went to physicians,\u201d Orient stated. He had all kinds of <a href=\"https:\/\/childrenshealthdefense.org\/defender\/richard-baron-misinformation-weber-shandwick-conflict-of-interest-pharma-cdc\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">conflicts of interests<\/a> with medical companies getting money from Pfizer and Moderna.\u201d (ABIM did not respond to a request for a comment from Baron.)<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo this day, ABIM maintains this posture that they can essentially convict anyone of spreading misinformation,\u201d McCullough said. \u201cThey have used vague terms like consensus-driven statements and give no definitions of \u2018information\u2019 versus \u2018misinformation.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>High-profile attorney Andrew Schlafly litigated on behalf of AAPS.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cViewpoint-based censorship of freedom of speech is one of the most important issues today, and essential to the future of both our country and the ability of patients to obtain <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/60-minutes-runs-explosive-segment-featuring-young-transgender-individuals-who-decided-to-reverse-course\/\" title=\"60 Minutes Runs Explosive Segment Featuring Young Transgender Individuals Who Decided To Reverse Course\">quality medical care<\/a>,\u201d Schlafly told me. \u201cIt is vital that we restore freedom of speech and end improper interference with it. Physicians must be able to speak candidly about issues of public concern without fear of retaliation.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Matters of Public Concern<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Years later, government controls on information continue. In an opinion reached just last week, the Supreme Court <a href=\"https:\/\/www.statnews.com\/2024\/06\/26\/supreme-court-white-house-social-media-covid-misinformation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ruled<\/a> in favor of the federal government\u2019s right to control Covid information on social media. <\/p>\n<p>Schlafly and AAPS are still confident their case could set a new precedent in medicine.<\/p>\n<p>A win could revert the deferential treatment historically shown to these boards and hospitals in the courts, Orient said. \u201cMaybe some of these boards would understand that they are not considered infallible authorities and they could conceivably be held accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMore freedom of speech, not less, is essential to a future of quality medical care and a prosperous country,\u201d Schlafly said. \u201cIt is very harmful to patients and everyone else when entities retaliate against physicians based on their comments about matters of public concern.\u00a0All of us should work tirelessly to protect and promote freedom of speech without censorship based on viewpoints.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Ashley Bateman is a policy writer for The Heartland Institute and blogger for Ascension Press. Her work has been featured in The Washington Times, The Daily Caller, The New York Post, The American Thinker and numerous other publications. She previously worked as an adjunct scholar for The Lexington Institute and as editor, writer and photographer for The Warner Weekly, a publication for the American military community in Bamberg, Germany.     Ashley is a board member at a Catholic homeschool cooperative in Virginia. She homeschools her four incredible children along with her brilliant engineer\/scientist husband.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a significant legal case, an appellate court judge has determined that physicians who were threatened by credentialing boards for speaking out against Covid policies and abortion have the right to sue. The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) Educational Foundation filed an appeal after their initial case was dismissed by a district court. The case has now been remanded to a lower court for further proceedings. The physicians were targeted for their public comments and prescribing legal medications that went against the narrative. The case is seen as crucial for physicians&#8217; freedom of practice, as these boards have a significant impact on their ability to earn a living. The case is also seen as a fight against viewpoint-based censorship and a defense of freedom of speech. The outcome of this case could set a new precedent in medicine and potentially hold these boards accountable for their actions<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":638,"featured_media":2290291,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Copy-of-Untitled-24.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[4733,34182,7213,7170,6647],"class_list":["post-2290290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-court","tag-credentialing-boards","tag-doctors","tag-sue","tag-tyrannical"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Copy-of-Untitled-24.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2290290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/638"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2290290"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2290290\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2290291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2290290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2290290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2290290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}