In some cases, he said, boards have contacted physicians and have persuaded them to voluntarily refrain from making false public statements, without taking disciplinary action. Medical boards will particularly examine cases in which there is a pattern of misinformation or disinformation showing that a physician poses a continuing threat to public health, said Hank Chaudhry, MD, the federation's CEO. The federation cited a "dramatic increase in the dissemination of COVID-19 vaccine misinformation and disinformation by physicians." That's particularly dangerous, it said, because physicians enjoy a high degree of public credibility. In July, it warned that physicians who wilfully spread false information about COVID-19 risk suspension or revocation of their medical license. The Federation of State Medical Boards agrees. It's appropriate for medical boards to look into those situations." "I don't know any good reason why a physician should be advising against vaccination. "That's the problem ― those types of viral videos of someone somewhere who thinks they know something the rest of us don't," lamented Jennifer Bryan, MD, board chair of the Mississippi State Medical Association. Rand Paul, an ophthalmologist, whose YouTube account was temporarily suspended in August after he posted a video disputing the effectiveness of masking in stopping the spread of COVID-19. Physicians accused of spreading false information include public officials such as Scott Atlas, MD, who served as President Donald Trump's COVID-19 advisor, and Kentucky Sen. They fear such statements are increasing public confusion and are heightening political conflict.
Opponents of COVID-19 vaccines and masking policies across the country have been citing his comments.Īcross the country, state medical licensing boards and state and national medical associations are struggling with how to respond to scientifically baseless public statements about COVID-19 by some physicians such as Stock. In response to Stock's remarks, the state health department quickly issued a statement reaffirming that COVID-19 vaccines "are highly effective at preventing hospitalizations and deaths." But by then, the YouTube video of Stock ' s comments had garnered nearly 600,000 views as of August 12 and had been shared over 10,000 times on Facebook. (A study released in mid-August found that ivermectin is ineffective in treating COVID-19.)
He claimed his treatment of "over 15" COVID-19 patients with vitamin D, ivermectin, and zinc has kept them out of the hospital, and that those treatments reduce mortality risk from the disease by 75%.
Stock told the school board members that COVID-19 vaccines are counterproductive because they make coronavirus infections worse. He described himself as a "functional family medicine physician," though he is not board certified in family medicine. "The Center for Disease Control and the Indiana State of Health are giving you very bad scientific guidance," said Daniel Stock, MD, a primary care physician with a concierge practice in Noblesville, Indiana.
He launched into an impassioned, 7-minute attack on the public health establishment's medical guidelines for COVID-19. Vernon, Indiana, school board meeting on a Friday evening in early August. 26, 2021 - A tall, distinguished-looking physician in shirtsleeves and suspenders walked to the microphone at the Mt.