Tennessee Republican Rep. John Ragan, R-Oak Ridge, has demanded a state medical board remove a policy statement from its website warning that physicians who spread misinformation regarding COVID-19 vaccines risk disciplinary action.
In a letter sent Monday to Dr. Melanie Blake of Chattanooga, president of the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners, Ragan instructed the statement be deleted “without delay.”
“If you fail to act promptly, your organization will be required to appear before the Joint Government Operations Committee to explain your inaction,” wrote Ragan, the committee’s House chair, in the Nov. 15 letter obtained by Tennessee Lookout.
(READ MORE: Tennessee doctors who spread COVID-19 vaccine misinformation could lose their licenses)
Newly enacted legislation, signed by Gov. Bill Lee on Nov. 12, bars licensing boards such as the Board of Medical Examiners from disciplining doctors for spreading misinformation or dispensing unproven medications for COVID-19 – like the deworming medication ivermectin – unless the board creates special rules. Those rules must be approved by lawmakers. The legislation was aimed directly at repealing the board’s actions.