A medical doctor in Oregon who allegedly suggested similarities between COVID-19 and a “common cold” and called into question the efficacy of face masks has had his license revoked.
On Dec. 3, the Oregon Medical Board issued an emergency suspension of Dr. Steven LaTulippe’s medical license, according to NBC News. The doctor reportedly made the comments during a political rally in support of President Donald Trump on Nov. 7.
The board accused LaTulippe of engaging “in unprofessional conduct or dishonorable conduct.” They went on to rule the medical doctor’s opinion about COVID-19 “constitutes an immediate danger to the public, and present a serious danger to the public health and safety.”
“I want you to know that I never shut down during the entire COVID season, from the time it was declared til now,” he said during the pro-Trump event. “I hate to tell you this — it might scare you — but I and my staff, none of us once wore a mask in my clinic. And how many problems did we have in our clinic from that? Zero. Absolutely none.”
“We have been utterly duped,” LaTulippe continued. “And I want you to know that this is insanity and the purpose was only to shut down the American people. Take off the mask of shame. It is a mask that is just designed to control and to shut you down.”
In its order against the doctor, the Oregon Medical Board said LaTulippe “regularly tells his patients” that masks “are ineffective in preventing the spread of COVID-19 and should not be worn.” The board also stated he “regularly advises, particularly for his elderly and pediatric patients, that it is ‘very dangerous’ to wear masks because masks exacerbate COPD and asthma and cause or contribute to multiple serious health conditions, including but not limited to heart attacks, strokes, collapsed lungs, MRSA, pneumonia, and hypertension.”
However, according to the NBC News report, patients who believe they have COVID-19 or are showing symptoms of the virus wear masks when they enter his clinic. He also said he sees those patients toward the end of the day, when his other patients have gone home. He said he also uses a back room that he disinfects before and after each visit.
“I’m very interested in sound medical practice,” he explained, “and I’m interested in good science. And when science and medicine become perverted with corrupt politics, then I’m up for a fight, and that’s what made me go to that rally and say what I said.”