SPOKANE, Wash. - NBA hall-of-famer and outspoken COVID vaccine critic John Stockton has filed suit in federal court over the sanctioning of physicians who speak out about COVID.
The complaint for relief was filed last week. One of the attorneys representing Stockton is Robert F. Kennedy, the presidential candidate who has been outspoken on his views about the COVID pandemic.
Also represented in the case is Richard Eggleston, a retired ophthalmologist from Clarkston is being investigated by the Washington Medical Commission for what the suit calls "the public dissemination of information contrary to the government approved COVID narrative."
The claim says people's right to hear this information is "being chilled and censored by the Defendants' actions."
"The purpose of this lawsuit," attorneys wrote, "is to protect the right of physicians to speak, and the right of the public to hear their message."
Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson is named as a defendant in the case, along with Kyle Karinen, Executive Director of the Washington Medical Commission.
At the time, the commission said "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.”
The lawsuit says the commission has "investigated, prosecuted and/or sanctioned approximately 60 physicians."
"The goal is to stop the Commission from investigating, prosecuting or sanctioning physicians who speak out in public against the so-called 'mainstream Covid narrative,' i.e., the succession of public health edicts put out by the CDC and repeated by the primary news outlets, which has caused the public to lose trust in the public health authorities, which has caused the CDC to repeatedly apologize and promise to do better," the complaint reads.
Children's Health Defense is also aligned with Stockton and Eggleston in the suit, speaking on behalf of doctors "who wish to speak out about in public about the latest studies about the Covid booster shots, as well as information about the off-label treatments for Covid. Among their members are Washington parents who want to receive objective, non-coerced information from physicians, including Washington licensed physicians about the risk profile of the Covid vaccines for the current boosters."
Plaintiffs claim that Stockton and other Washington residents have a First Amendment right to hear from physicians who have views that are not consistent with public health authorities.
They claim physicians who are sanctioned or investigating for disseminating COVID misinformation are having their First Amendment rights violated as well.
Stockton has been outspoken about many aspects of the COVID pandemic and even had his Gonzaga basketball season tickets suspended because he refused to wear a mask when they were required.
In addition to Kennedy, the plaintiffs are being represented by Richard Jaffe, who recently argued a case about California's COVID misinformation law.
California Governor Gavin Newsom repealed the law in late September.
A previous version of this story misidentified the Children's Health Defense as the Children's Defense Fund. We regret the error.
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