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Wednesday, March 27, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Judge halts California’s Covid misinformation law

The law would have allowed state regulators to discipline physicians who spread misinformation about Covid-19.

(CN) — A federal judge on Wednesday halted enforcement of a recently enacted California law that would allow state regulators to discipline physicians who spread misinformation about Covid-19.

In a 30-page opinion, U.S. District Judge William Shubb granted a preliminary injunction to physicians who sued Governor Gavin Newsom and the state's medical board over Assembly Bill 2098, a law that allows the medical board to discipline doctors who share information about Covid that is not a part of the "contemporary scientific consensus."

Shubb said the language of the law was "unconstitutionally vague" and ordered the state to stop enforcement of it. The lawsuit was filed in November.

Dr. Aaron Kheriaty, one of the plaintiffs, took to Twitter Wednesday evening to talk about the ruling.

"The ruling bodes well for our case," Kheriaty wrote. "It indicates that our arguments that this law is unconstitutional have strong pre-trial facial plausibility. Not to get ahead of ourselves, of course, or try to predict the final outcome of the case, but this is a very positive development."

The plaintiffs said the law violated their First Amendment rights and impaired their ability to treat patients.

Spokespeople for the governor and medical board did not immediately comment on the ruling.

Categories / Civil Rights, Health, Media

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