A federal judge shut down a California law holding doctors responsible for disseminating false information about Covid-19. The judge, William B. Shubb, said the law was “unconstitutionally vague” and that in a new area of study, it is hard to determine the falsity of a scientific conclusion. Governor Gavin Newsom said the law was tailored to address egregious instances of a doctor acting with malicious intent or straying from established standards of care in treating a patient. (The San Jose Mercury News, January 27, 2023, by John Woolfolk)
The law was attempting to deal with false information costing people’s lives. From the Times: “Judge Shubb ruled that the definition of misinformation — ‘false information that is contradicted by contemporary scientific consensus contrary to the standard of care’ — could have a chilling effect on doctors’ interactions with their patients.” Another judge ruled against an injunction for the law so the case may now go to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. (The New York Times, January 26, 2023, by Steven Lee Myers)
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