In a landmark case, 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.
A year after the case was dismissed by a district court, the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons Educational Foundation filed an appeal for the right to sue the American Board of Internal Medicine, the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the American Board of Family Medicine, and the secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for "Coordinated" attempts to "Censor and chill the speech of physicians," especially those "Who spoke critically of positions taken by Dr. Anthony Fauci, lockdowns, mask mandates, Covid vaccination, and abortion."
Attacks by these credentialing boards continue, the suit reads, as they label "Dissenting views as misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation" and threaten to revoke the certification of "Otherwise qualified physicians who express such views."
The case against the specialty boards is crucial for physicians' freedom of practice.
Most practice in hospitals and are involved in multiple insurance panels requiring credentials from boards like ABIM. "These boards virtually have a monopoly on physicians to earn a living from their profession," Orient said.
A win could revert the deferential treatment historically shown to these boards and hospitals in the courts, Orient said.
"Maybe some of these boards would understand that they are not considered infallible authorities and they could conceivably be held accountable."
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