A District Judge has issued a preliminary injunction against a California law that punishes doctors for giving medical advice about COVID-19 that is deemed misinformation.
The California law that was signed by Governor Newsom last year was to take effect at the beginning of this year. The law gave the California state government the authority to crack down on doctors who give medical advice about COVID-19 that is contradictory to the desired advice of government officials. The law defined certain medical advice as misinformation when it is “contradicted by contemporary scientific consensus contrary to the standard of care,” and delivered with “malicious intent or an intent to mislead.”
It’s not exaggerative to say that liberal leaders have been pushing a narrative throughout the pandemic that their voices are the ultimate authority on all COVID-19-related topics. Who could forget Anthony Fauci arrogantly declaring, “I am the science.” Any dissenting opinions were labeled disinformation, and any person who disagreed with the claims of the so-called “experts” were canceled, condemned, and accused of committing violence.
Self-proclaimed freedom lover, California Governor Gavin Newsom and his team of woke legislators wanted to further this chilling narrative with this new law. California wanted the power to strong-arm doctors into only telling patients the things that the state approves. Put otherwise, “hey Doc, if you don’t go along with our storyline we will restrict your ability to legally work and thereby end your career.”
Hard stop: this is a government restriction on free speech and a severe limit to medical freedom.
Luckily a judge in California agreed. The Honorable William B. Shubb, a Senior United States District Judge in the Eastern District of California issued a preliminary injunction on this law for its lack of constitutionality. The 84-year-old George H.W. Bush appointee called the term “scientific consensus” ill-defined, stating that the state provided no evidence that it has “any established technical meaning.”
So, what’s next? the law is temporarily halted, giving doctors the ability to momentarily do their jobs and give their medical opinions without being fired (or worse). However, the fight is not over, the case will proceed to trial . . .stay tuned. Although this was a brief victory, the fight in California is not over.
