US Supreme Court rejects bid to shield covid misinformation doctors from state medical board discipline

The US Supreme Court has rejected an application for an injunction to stop the Washington Medical Commission, which regulates physicians in Washington State, from investigating and sanctioning doctors who spread misinformation about covid-19.

The injunction request was filed by a group of plaintiffs who are suing the commission and Washington State’s attorney general. The group includes Children’s Health Defence, an anti-vaccine group founded by Robert F Kennedy Jr, whom president elect Donald Trump has named as his pick for secretary of health.1 Kennedy is listed in court filings as one of three lawyers representing plaintiffs in the suit.2

Other plaintiffs are retired ophthalmologist Richard Eggleston and retired physician Thomas Siler, who have been charged with professional misconduct by the Washington Medical Commission. Eggleston, in a newspaper, and Siler, in an online discussion forum, spread false narratives about the covid vaccine and promoted ineffective treatments endorsed by Trump, such as ivermectin.

Another plaintiff, physician Daniel Moynihan, has not been charged with misconduct but argues that the possibility of medical board sanctions has chilled free speech and so infringed his first amendment rights.

The suit also claims …