In a victory for medical freedom, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit revived a lawsuit brought by the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons alleging medical certification boards coordinated with the federal government to censor physicians who expressed dissenting views on official COVID-19 policies and vaccines.

An appeals court last week ruled in favor of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS), finding that the federal government’s now-defunct Disinformation Governance Board coordinated with several medical boards to stifle doctors’ free speech on social media platforms during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit sends the case back to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas to decide whether the medical boards’ actions counted as “state action,” a key question in First Amendment cases.

AAPS called the 5th Circuit ruling a “landmark victory” and “precedent-setting” in establishing the right to object to censorship in court and in upholding the “constitutional ‘right to hear’” dissenting perspectives on controversial topics.

https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/5th-circuit-ruling-favors-doctors-medical-boards-censorship/?