A doctor who was banned from practicing medicine due to his vaccination status is suing the state of Rhode Island in an attempt to get his practice back.
The Rhode Island Department of Health ordered oral and maxillofacial surgeon Dr. Stephen Skoly to halt his critical surgical care on October 1, 2021 after the state denied his COVID-19 vaccine medical exemption, the Daily Signal reports.
“After four months of being forced out of work, I still held out some hope that all mandates might come to an end in mid February,” Skoly said in a statement.
“But now, with Rhode Island’s Speaker of the House [ K. Joseph Shekarchi, a Democrat] and Senate President [Dominick Ruggerio, a Democrat] openly planning with Gov. [Dan] McKee to extend his executive orders and unilateral powers for at least another two months … I am left with no choice but to file this lawsuit,” he continued.
The lawsuit, filed Friday in the United States District Court for Rhode Island against McKee, a Democrat, and former Rhode Island Department of Health Director Nicole Alexander-Scott, seeks to stop the state from preventing him from practicing medicine.
“Dr. Skoly is not an anti-vaxxer,” the lawsuit said. “On two previous occasions, he suffered Bell’s Palsy facial paralysis. Considering this medical history, and the scientifically demonstrated association between COVID-19 vaccination and the onset of Bell’s Palsy paralysis, Dr. Skoly requested a medical exemption from the vaccine mandate. He asked the State to treat him in the same manner as other health care workers being granted medical or religious exemptions.”
“Rhode Island’s refusal to acknowledge this medical risk is, in effect, a state directive that Dr. Skoly must risk facial paralysis to continue to practice his profession,” it continued. “This state directive is a callous violation of Dr. Skoly’s rights, and unnecessary to protect the vulnerable patient.”
The complaint presents two arguments, according to a press release from the Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity: Skoly’s “equal protection” and “due process” rights were violated under the 14th Amendment, and it was an “irrational and arbitrary move” for the Rhode Island Department of Health to deny his medical exemption request, especially considering his medical history of having Bell’s palsy facial paralysis.
“Dr. Skoly, who has agreed to comply with required testing and masking protocols, presents no more risk to patients than the hundreds and thousands of other healthcare workers, vaccinated or not, infected or not, who are currently allowed to care for patients under those same protocols,” reads the press release.
