California Physician Issues Warning About Bill to Punish Physicians for ‘Unprofessional Conduct

California surgeon Dr. Peter Mazolewski says the purpose of Assembly Bill 2098 by Assemblyman Evan Low (D-Campbell) is to circumvent due process against doctors over “Covid misinformation conduct.”

AB 2098 will punish physicians and surgeons for “unprofessional conduct” for advocating for the potential benefits of early treatment with off-label drugs, or those who dare to ask questions about COVID vaccine safety.

“There is no jury voting on this,” Dr. Mazolewski told the Globe. “This is a California Medical Board decision.”

AB 2098 is sitting on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk awaiting his signature or veto.

California’s Medical Board is currently made up of 12 individuals: 6 Medical Doctors, 3 attorneys, a Public Relations consultant, an “Ethics Reformer,” and a Life Coach.

Under AB 2098, doctors would be subject to disciplinary actions by the Medical Board of California and the Osteopathic Medical Board of California if they do not adhere to the “approved COVID treatment consensus.”

Who approves the “consensus,” Dr. Pete wants to know. The medical board? Public health officials? Neither the members of the Medical Board nor all of California’s public health officials are licensed medical doctors.

Does the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention decide “approved COVID treatment consensus?” Even CDC Director Rochelle Walensky recently admitted her agency’s failures during the COVID-19 pandemic during a message to her staff in August. ABC reported, “To be frank, we are responsible for some pretty dramatic, pretty public mistakes. From testing, to data, to communications,” Walensky said.

Dr. Mazolewski also addressed the threat to  “Disseminating information” from doctor to patient. “This ‘unprofessional conduct’ if the medical board disagrees with the information is the loss of a medical license.”

Dr. Mazolewski offered this scenario:

“A family comes in with their teenage son, and they want him to have the Covid vaccine. The doctor is thinking that the teen had Covid so he has natural immunity; the vaccine effect is waning; teen boys and young men are known to be susceptible to Myocarditis with the Covid vaccine. But my medical group or hospital is strongly encouraging the vaccine. So, do I give the vaccine to the teen boy or lose my license for advising against it?”

“Your private decision with the patient(s) in the office are now subjected to ‘contemporary scientific consensus,” he added.

“We know there were a lot of problems with the CDC… if we speak out right now, we run the risk of losing our licenses,” Mazolewski said.

Assembly Bill 2098 would empower the Medical Board of California to go after the licenses of physicians who disseminate “misinformation” or “disinformation” regarding Covid-19. The bill in its latest iteration defines misinformation as “false information that is contradicted by contemporary scientific consensus contrary to the standard of care.”

As the Globe reported Tuesday:

As Laura Powell of Californians for Good Governance noted, “Since AB 2098 explicitly restricts speech based on its content, it is presumptively invalid. The bill does not address the problem identified. The bill’s authors and supporters point to the problem of doctors who widely amplify falsehoods about Covid-19, but silencing them would violate the Constitution. To remedy the constitutional problems, it would have to be pared down to the point that it would simply duplicate existing law. Proponents are unable to cite a single example of a harm that could be prevented.”

Dr. Pete Mazolewski is not alone in his concern over the chilling effect AB 2098 would have with doctors, but unfortunately, too many are already fearful of speaking out.

As the Globe reported Tuesday, “Gov. Newsom can sign the bill, or do nothing with AB 2098, and it would still become law, which the Daily Wire said would be monstrously cowardly.”