California\u2019s legislature has pass Assembly Bill 2098 to designate the dissemination of COVID-19 misinformation or disinformation as unprofessional conduct. This means that any doctor that offers alternative protocols to treat COVID-19 could lose their license to practice. It is an egregious affront to freedom of speech and, quite frankly, science. The legislation establishes that the Centers for Disease Control is the sole source of COVID-19 treatment protocols and any alternatives are considered disinformation or misinformation. California is often among the first to adopt extreme concepts that quickly spread across the nation. Beware of this one. It is government censorship of speech and science.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Section 1 of the legislation states: \u201cThe Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (a) The global spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, or COVID-19, has claimed the lives of over 6,000,000 people worldwide, including nearly 90,000 Californians. (b) Data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that unvaccinated individuals are at a risk of dying from COVID-19 that is 11 times greater than those who are fully vaccinated. (c) The safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines have been confirmed through evaluation by the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the vaccines continue to undergo intensive safety monitoring by the CDC. (d) The spread of misinformation and disinformation about COVID-19 vaccines has weakened public confidence and placed lives at serious risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c(e) Major news outlets have reported that some of the most dangerous propagators of inaccurate information regarding the COVID-19 vaccines are licensed health care professionals. (f) The Federation of State Medical Boards has released a statement warning that physicians who engage in the dissemination of COVID-19 vaccine misinformation or disinformation risk losing their medical license, and that physicians have a duty to provide their patients with accurate, science-based information. (g) In House Resolution No. 74 of the 2021\u201322 Regular Session, the California State Assembly declared health misinformation to be a public health crisis, and urged the State of California to commit to appropriately combating health misinformation and curbing the spread of falsehoods that threaten the health and safety of Californians.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bill defines disinformation as: \u201cmisinformation that the licensee deliberately disseminated with malicious intent or an intent to mislead.\u201d Misinformation is defined as: \u201cfalse information that is contradicted by contemporary scientific consensus contrary to the standard of care.\u201d This legislation attempts to codify that doctors who have found success outside of government-mandated protocols are subject to losing their licenses. The bill assumes falsely that the COVID science is settled and that the COVID protocols and vaccines are safe and effective\u2014both are misinformation in of themselves as proven by science and experience. This type of legislation is an ingredient of which dictatorships are made. Psalm 119:163 says, \u201cI hate and abhor falsehood.\u201d We all should. And this legislation penalizes those who expose government falsehoods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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