The Legal Battle over California’s AB2098

Let’s talk about the recent legal cases involving California’s AB2098 — the bill addressing physicians spreading COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccine misinformation in the setting of a physician-patient relationship:

Law aimed at doctors who spread COVID-19 misinformation is put on hold by judge

The fact that the judge granted a preliminary injunction and that the plaintiffs have standing doesn’t bode well for the law. However, multiple law professors and legal scholars have previously deemed that professional speech — within a doctor-patient relationship — is not and should not be protected speech by the First Amendment.

One of the law professors who has written about this topic multiple times is Carl Coleman at Seton Law School:

Regulating Physician Speech

Physicians Who Disseminate Medical Misinformation: Testing the Constitutional Limits of Professional Disciplinary Action

He’s quoted here by Bloomberg Law as saying: “There’s no question but that a doctor who is providing incompetent medical advice to a patient is committing malpractice, and that can be grounds for professional…