ICWA Weekly News 1-2-24
Welcome to 2024! Let's start the year by challenging the outdated Washington Medical Commission policy on misinformation that has many doctors against the ropes.
In this issue:
The Deep State of the Washington Medical Commission (WMC)
The WMC Policy Meeting on January 4 allows public comment
WA Board of Health Meets in Tumwater on January 10
December 29 Radio Show Links: Health Hour on Countertop Nutrition and Liberty Hour on How to Be Louder than a Lobbyist in Olympia
The Deep State of the Washington Medical Commission
So, what is this Washington Medical Commission (WMC) that has been going after physicians, notably Renata Moon, Ryan Cole, and Michael Turner, for prescribing ivermectin and/or stating what the WMC deems as misinformation?
The WMC’s “purpose” as stated on its website:
It is the purpose and responsibility of the Washington Medical Commission (WMC) to protect the public by ensuring quality healthcare is provided by physicians and physician assistants. The WMC establishes, monitors, and enforces qualifications for licensure, consistent standards of practice, and continuing competency. The WMC currently regulates about 34,000 licenses, more than 3,000 of which are PAs. Rules, policies, and procedures developed by the WMC promote the delivery of quality healthcare to the people in Washington.
Does ‘protect the public’ sound like yet another public health agency? One wonders if they, like our department of health, are beholden to the same public health agencies like the CDC (that gave us SARS-COV-2) and the FDA (that gave us COVID shots). A closer look at the WMC reveals that it more serves the purpose of what is often referred to as the “deep state” or “administrative state.”
Consider Victor Davis Hanson’s description of “administrative state” that he provides in chapter four of his book, The Dying Citizen:
In some sense, the best definition of the administrative state is just this absorption of the constitutionally separate powers of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches into one omnipotent entity—into the hands of people never elected to their positions of power. The regulator, after all, has no constituency that periodically audits his conduct at the polls. He can create a rule and then become the judge of whether the targeted citizen has broken it. Finally, as an executive, he has the power to enforce upon the offender his own prior legislative and judiciary rulings. In response, the citizen has no direct control over the anonymous bureaucrat. Of course, in theory, the power to elect new representatives and executives who can curtail or expand the deep state ultimately resides with the people. In reality, however, so often elected officials of both parties become overwhelmed by the permanent army of clerks, experts, and civil servants who must brief them, sometimes selectively, on the levers, gears, and wheels of their own vast and sometimes secretive government. Metaphors abound for the relationship, be it the parasite that eventually eats away its host, the Frankensteinian monster that cannot be controlled by its human creator, or the science fiction computer that goes rogue and devours its inventor.
The WMC website tells us who was appointed by the Governor to be on the commission which ties the body directly to the executive branch. Its purpose and existence is provided for in statute: RCW 18.71.015 giving the appearance of legislative oversight. Then the RCW allows for the commission to be judge and jury over complaints on physician and physician-assistant licenses. Therefore, the WMC meets much of the ‘administrative state’ as Victor Davis Hanson proposes.
So how did this administrative state agency arrive at its September 22 COVID-19 Misinformation Position Statement that is being weaponized against doctors who were trying to save lives during the height of the pandemic frenzy? It was prompted by a July 29, 2021 statement by the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB), a non-government organization (NGO). The WMC statement admits this influence and took it further:
The WMC supports the position taken by the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) regarding COVID-19 vaccine misinformation. The WMC does not limit this perspective to vaccines but broadly applies this standard to all misinformation regarding COVID-19 treatments and preventive measures such as masking. Physicians and Physician Assistants, who generate and spread COVID-19 misinformation, or disinformation, erode the public trust in the medical profession and endanger patients.
The WMC held a Special Meeting of commissioners on September 22, 2021 to pass the statement to make it policy. The 30-minute meeting, available on YouTube, notably did not allow for public comment as explained by John Maldon the WMC chair at the time.
At the 12:30 mark of the recording, it seemed remarkable how the commission chair stopped a member from sharing remarks about an ivermectin case. It seems hard to believe that a policy statement discussion could not be informed by relevant cases. Then what information did they use to (illegally?) enact the policy? Did the WMC completely defer to the CDC or to the FSMB statement?
The full WMC news release on the position statement allowed Washington’s secretary of health Umair A. Shah to chime in:
It has never been more vital for trusted healthcare professionals to band together against the threat of misinformation. As we battle COVID-19, with so many tools at our disposal to protect ourselves and others, it is viral misinformation, rooted in unfounded scientific claims, that often stands in our way. It is our ethical duty to listen to our patients concerns, course-correct when people fall prey to falsehoods, and help them make informed medical decisions that are guided by research and medical science. Now more than ever we must align with the oath we took to “do no harm,” and part of that means trusting science, listening, educating and caring for our patients according to the guidelines set by the FDA, the CDC, and experts at the state health department as we work to care for and protect the people we treat.
A Commissioner and ER physician, Harlan Gallinger added some hyperbolic comments as well, singling out the unvaccinated and ignoring the fact that vaccinated were also filling up hospital wards:
As a practicing emergency physician we are on the front line and we are continuing to get bombarded and overwhelmed by patients who are not vaccinated and I think that’s in large part because of misinformation. And, I believe that we should be standing up on behalf of the practice of medicine. I support the statement and appreciate that it expresses what our expectation is from a professionalism standpoint about what is defined as misinformation.
The following passage from the WMC’s Misinformation Position Statement not only shows the actions it would take, but also reveals how they lazily defer to another government bureaucracy - as you might have suspected.
The WMC will scrutinize any complaints received about practitioners granting exemptions to vaccination or masks that are not based in established science or verifiable fact. A practitioner who grants a mask or other exemption without conducting an appropriate prior exam and without a finding of a legitimate medical reason supporting such an exemption within the standard of care, may be subjecting their license to disciplinary action.
The WMC bases masking and vaccination safety on expert recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Washington State Department of Health (DOH).
The WMC relies on the U.S Food and Drug Administration approval of medications to treat COVID-19 to be the standard of care. While not an exhaustive list, the public and practitioners should take note:
• Ivermectin is not FDA approved for use in treating or preventing COVID-19
• Hydroxychloroquine (Chloroquine) is not FDA approved for use in treating or preventing COVID-19
Is the WMC justified in keeping its stance on their opinion of ‘standard of care’ and treatments like ivermectin?
In a recent article titled “Top Ten COVID Events of the Year: Revealing the Facts Unspoken and Unknown,” the Epoch Times listed as number seven “Doctors Can Prescribe Ivermectin: FDA Lawyer.”
Two years after health authorities criticized the use of ivermectin for treating COVID-19, with some doctors’ medical licenses suspended for prescribing it, a lawsuit revealed that doctors actually could prescribe ivermectin as a therapeutic for COVID.
“FDA explicitly recognizes that doctors do have the authority to prescribe ivermectin to treat COVID,” Ashley Cheung Honold, a Department of Justice lawyer representing the FDA, said during oral arguments on Aug. 8 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit.
The court case against the FDA was brought by physicians who alleged the FDA’s social media posts in 2021 discouraging ivermectin use interfered with their ability to practice medicine. The plaintiffs are Drs. Paul Marik, Mary Bowden, and Robert Apter. They claimed they were professionally harmed by the FDA’s statements, including being terminated over efforts to prescribe ivermectin to patients.
Dr. Marik also noted that a number of studies support the use of ivermectin to treat COVID-19, as the FDA itself has acknowledged.
Where are the revised policy statements?
Dr. Pierre Kory details an analysis of the restrictions on ivermectin for COVID-19 in his book The War on Ivermectin. The following excerpt from the book’s marketing copy provides an overview of this corruption:
In this book, Dr. Kory details all the personal attacks, professional setbacks, and concerted, corrupt, and highly effective actions that influenced the world’s major health agencies and medical journals to dismiss and deny its efficacy. Dr. Kory also relates firsthand the catastrophic impacts of mass media censorship and relentless mass media propaganda that he witnessed against ivermectin and his organization's ability to help save lives.
Despite these barriers, Dr. Kory and his colleagues' efforts led to what is now twenty-three countries containing 25 percent of the world's population to have partially or fully adopted ivermectin into their COVID-19 treatment guidelines. Although numerous studies and epidemiologic data have shown that many millions of lives were saved globally with the systematic use of ivermectin, many more millions perished as the result of what he eventually discovered to be the deep, long-standing, pervasive, and corruptive power of the pharmaceutical industry in its decades-long wars on generic medicines.
The WMC’s misinformation statement cascaded to the nursing profession, where their governing board admitted it was also taking cues from the FSMB when they adopted a similar position on September 8, 2021. NCQAC Executive Director, Paula Meyer said,
“Nurses who generate and spread COVID-19 misinformation, or ,"disinformation, erode public trust in the nursing profession and endanger patients. The Nursing Commission (NCQAC) takes the spread of misinformation seriously, and will do its part to combat it, even through disciplinary action when necessary.”
The second paragraph of the Nursing Commission statement on COVID-19 misinformation is taken verbatim from the FSMB’s press release:
Physicians who generate and spread COVID-19 vaccine misinformation or disinformation are risking disciplinary action by state medical boards, including the suspension or revocation of their medical license. Due to their specialized knowledge and training, licensed physicians possess a high degree of public trust and therefore have a powerful platform in society, whether they recognize it or not. They also have an ethical and professional responsibility to practice medicine in the best interests of their patients and must share information that is factual, scientifically grounded and consensus-driven for the betterment of public health. Spreading inaccurate COVID-19 vaccine information contradicts that responsibility, threatens to further erode public trust in the medical profession and puts all patients at risk.
The Washington Medical Commission’s 2023 Performance Report mentions COVID-19-related complaints only once on page thirteen.
The report does not delve into the specifics of these COVID-19 investigations, but a perusal of its search engine for legal actions reveals news releases of the WMC’s witch hunt, such as those being taken on Ryan Cole, Scott Miller, Guito Cassagnol-Wingfield, Miguel Antonatos, and Richard Wilkinson, to name just a few.
Statement of charges served on physician license of Ryan Cole
OLYMPIA, WA – In January 2023, Washington Medical Commission (WMC) issued a statement of charges against the Washington physician license of Ryan Cole, MD (Lic. #00048229).
Dr. Cole resides in Idaho, but holds a Washington license to practice as a physician and surgeon.
The statement of charges alleges that Dr. Cole made numerous false and misleading statements related to COVID-19 and treated patients with COVID-19 or seeking to prevent getting COVID-19 in a manner that was beneath the standard of care.
Dr. Cole must file a response to the statement of charges by January 30, 2023.
[A click on his case provides a statement of the charges filed by WMC Executive Director Melanie De Leon, as the following summary in the document indicates:]
1.2 Respondent made numerous false and misleading statements during public presentations regarding the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, COVID-19 vaccines, the use of ivermectin to treat COVID-19, and the effectiveness of masks that were harmful and dangerous to individual patients, generated mistrust in the medical profession and in public health and had a widespread negative impact on the health and well-being of our communities.
Clark County PA Suspended
OLYMPIA, WA - A Washington Medical Commission (WMC) panel has suspended the license of Physician Assistant (PA) Scott C. Miller (#60427988) on October 12, 2021.
WMC alleges PA Miller’s treatment of COVID-19 patients fell below the standard of care. Miller began a public campaign promoting ivermectin as a curative for COVID-19, and prescribed it without adequate examination to at least one person, with no reliable clinical studies that establish its efficacy in preventing or treating COVID-19.
WMC restricts Lewis County Physician’s License
OLYMPIA, WA – The Washington Medical Commission (WMC) restricted the license of Guito Cassagnol Wingfield (License #00048810) following a hearing in June. The WMC found that Dr. Wingfield prescribed ivermectin to five patients for COVID-19 infection without documenting a sufficient rationale for prescribing the medication, without informing the patients that the medication is off-label and not FDA-approved to prevent or treat COVID, without performing an appropriate risk stratification analysis of the patients’ medical conditions, and without discussing alternative treatments with the patients.
The WMC issued a Final Order restricting Dr. Wingfield from prescribing ivermectin for non-FDA-approved indications, and restricting him from prescribing medication or providing care to patients without first establishing a physician-patient relationship by seeing the patient in-person or via real-time video, taking the patient’s history, and examining the patient.
In addition to the restrictions, the Order requires Dr. Wingfield to inform eligible patients that monoclonal antibodies are available and effective to treat a COVID-19 infection, and that COVID-19 vaccinations are effective at preventing severe disease. Dr. Wingfield must also review the Centers for Disease Control website and the UpToDate website for current guidelines; take continuing medical education on the prevention, treatment, and management of COVID-19; complete an ethics course; complete a record-keeping course; and pay a fine of $5000.
Out of State Physician Enters into an Agreed Order with the WMC
OLYMPIA, WA – The Washington Medical Commission (WMC) and Miguel R. Antonatos, MD (License #61023368) entered into an Agreed Order placing conditions on Antonatos’ license.
Antonatos, who has a telemedicine practice and resides in Illinois, prescribed ivermectin to four Washington patients based on an online questionnaire. Antonatos agreed that he would not prescribe ivermectin for non-FDA-approved conditions and agreed that when he prescribes medication or provides care to patients in Washington, he would first establish a physician-patient relationship by seeing the patient either in person or via real-time video.
Antonatos also agreed to complete courses on record-keeping and on basic infectious disease, submit to compliance audits, and pay a fine of $6,000. Antonatos may petition to terminate the Agreed Order in five years.
WMC Restricts Yakima County Physician’s License
OLYMPIA, WA – The Washington Medical Commission (WMC) restricted the license of Richard S. Wilkinson, MD (License #MD00016229), who owns and operates a medical clinic in Yakima, following a hearing in April of this year. The WMC determined that Dr. Wilkinson failed to meet the standard of care by prescribing ivermectin to seven (7) patients for COVID-19 infections without documenting a sufficient rationale for prescribing the medication and without informing the patients that the medication is not FDA-approved to prevent or treat COVID-19. The WMC also concluded that Dr. Wilkinson failed to establish a physician-patient relationship with some of the patients and prescribed inhaled hydrogen peroxide to one (1) patient even though it has no effect on a COVID-19 infection and is dangerous in vapor form. In addition, the WMC concluded that in his web based blog, Dr. Wilkinson misrepresented information about COVID-19, masking, and vaccines.
The WMC issued a final order placing Dr. Wilkinson’s license on probation for five (5) years and restricting him from prescribing ivermectin for non-FDA-approved indications. The Order also precludes Dr. Wilkinson from prescribing medication or providing care to patients without (1) first establishing a physician-patient relationship by seeing the patient in-person or via real-time video; (2) taking the patient’s history and conducting a physical examination, (3) obtaining informed consent, and (4) documenting all of this in the patient’s medical record.
The Order also requires Dr. Wilkinson to undergo a clinical competency assessment, pay a fine of $15,000, and complete continuing medical education courses on medical record keeping, medical decision-making, and informed consent.
Informed Choice Washington is aware that there are multiple ongoing legal proceedings involving the above doctors as many continue to defend their licenses and appeal fines and re-education camps.
Dr. Kory and others have communicated the message of ivermectin safety and effectiveness since before the so-called-vaccines rolled out in early 2021, including congressional testimony on December 8, 2020. We ask these questions, for which answers should be self-evident:
Shouldn’t the public health agencies have had an interest in trying multiple treatments for a novel virus and disease?
Was Dr. Kory’s evidence not enough to be considered evidence-based medicine?
For how much longer will Washington doctors and nurses be harassed by their licensing authority?
The WMC meets regularly and the public can participate
The WMC policy committee and business meetings are generally run as open public meetings if you’d like to tell them what you think about this harassment of doctors. The policy committee accepts public comments to: medical.policy@wmc.wa.gov; and to the chair michael.farrell@wmc.wa.gov.
The WMC calendar shows that the next policy meeting is Thursday, January 4. Please register to attend remotely and provide comment. The members do not see too many public commenters so you should probably identify yourself in the chat or by email. The next business meeting is January 19.
Please deliver the above information to the WMC members and ask them how long their misinformation policy will be in effect.
No Washington DOH Report for the next BOH Meeting
Typically, almost without fail, the Department of Health provides an update report at each State Board of Health (SBOH) Meeting. But the draft agenda for the January 10, 2024 meeting does not include a Department of Health (DOH) update.
The closest the draft agenda gets is a fifteen-minute “State Health Report,” beginning at 10:20 a.m. None of the three speakers for this report represent the Department of Health. Instead, the public will hear from Board Member Mindy Flores as well as Board Staff Members Molly Dinardo and Hannah Haag.
The draft agenda does hold some suspense with a “Snohomish County Health Department Complaint” to be held at 3:45 p.m. with “possible action” listed. The scheduled speakers are Board Vice Chair Kelly Oshiro and Board Staff Member Molly Dinardo. Those are the only details given in the agenda for this topic. Perhaps more details will emerge in the currently-unpublished board meeting packet.
The BOH meeting will be held for the second consecutive time in the Department of Health Building in Tumwater at 111 Israel Road S.E. in Town Center 2, Rooms 166 & 167.
The meeting begins at 8:30 a.m. The twenty-minute allotted time slot for public comment will begin at 8:55 a.m. For in-person comment, the board strongly encourages people to sign up with the board by sending an email by 12:00 noon the day before the Wednesday meeting to wsboh@sboh.wa.gov.
For those attending the public attending virtually, they can provide public comment, by signing up through the Zoom webinar link by 12:00 Noon the day before the meeting.
Written public comments sent to wsboh@sboh.wa.gov. before 12:00 Noon on Friday January 5 will be included in the published meeting packet. Written comments received after 12:00 Noon Friday will be shared with board members; however, board members may not have the capacity to read or review the comments in advance or during the meeting.
Below is the access information for dial-in phone listen-only mode:
Call in: +1 (253) 215-8782, Webinar ID: 818-6445-6351, Passcode: 682856
An Informed Life Radio Show - Links
Health Hour: Countertop Nutrition
Reference Links:
Weston A. Price on lacto-fermentation
Weston A. Price on sprouting
Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods, by Sandoor Katz
Sprout People for organic seeds and equipment for microgreens
A source for fermenting crocks: Stone Creek Trading
The Farmhouse Culture Guide to Fermenting, by Kathryn Lukas and Shane Peterson
The Big Book of Kombucha, by Hannah Crum and Alex LaGory
Fire Cider! 101 Zesty Recipes for Health-Boosting Remedies Made with Apple Cider Vinegar, by Rosemary Gladstar:
Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and Diet Dictocrats by Sally Fallon
Liberty Hour: Be Louder Than Lobbyists
Businesses, organizations, state agencies, universities, and every county, city, and town hire lobbyists to speak to YOUR legislators about THEIR interests. In 2024, make it Your New Year's Resolution to be one of the MANY citizens speaking up in Olympia. Together, our voices can be louder than the lobbyists and ensure OUR interests are represented. Tune in to learn the basics of being heard.
Reference Links:
How a bill becomes a law in Washington State (leg.wa.gov)
How a bill becomes a law: summary by the Washington Medical Association who hire many lobbyists
Let’s Meme
