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On August 18, 2021, MedPage Today reported on medical boards not taking action against physicians who spread false or misleading information about COVID-19, despite some loudly threatening to do so. As part of our review of the year's top stories, we follow up on what has happened since then.

Only a handful of physicians have been disciplined for spreading COVID-19 misinformation since MedPage Today first reported on this issue 4 months ago -- and none of them were on our original list of the 20 most vocal physicians spreading COVID falsehoods.

Just three additional physicians were sanctioned by their state medical boards for actions related to COVID-19 misinformation, even though the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) has that doctors' licenses could be at risk if they deliberately misinform.

Sue Mcintosh, MD, of Connecticut, had her license suspended for doling out fraudulent vaccine exemption forms. Paul Gosselin, DO, of Maine, was slapped with a 30-day suspension for signing questionable COVID vaccine exemption letters.

Mark Brody, MD, of Rhode Island, was for spreading falsehoods about COVID vaccines and subsequently had his license suspended for 5 years for violating rules around patient care and medical records, .

In August, we reported on two doctors who'd been disciplined by their boards for a somewhat related issue of not wearing masks or wearing them improperly while seeing patients: Steven LaTulippe, MD, of Oregon, and Anthony Farina Jr., MD, of Rhode Island. In addition, Thomas Cowan, MD, of California, surrendered his license in February after spreading COVID falsehoods, but he'd also previously been on a 5-year probation for a 2017 accusation of prescribing unapproved drugs to a patient with breast cancer.

But other names closely tied to COVID disinformation campaigns -- including Simone Gold, MD, JD; Scott Atlas, MD; Sherri Tenpenny, DO; and Stella Immanuel, MD -- remain free to continue to misinform their patients and the public, even as the Omicron variant surges.

Some of the physicians on our list even renewed their license during the last 5 months. in September, and that Lee Merritt, MD, a member of America's Frontline Doctors who has criticized vaccines and masking, renewed her license in October.

Complaints may have been filed, and investigations may have been launched, but boards typically are bound by confidentiality laws to not make that information public. MedPage Today followed up with the 10 boards that licensed the 20 physicians named in the August story, but only five boards responded as of press time (California, Idaho, Illinois, North Carolina, and Ohio) and none had taken any action against these licensees.

In the absence of license sanctions, some hospitals and other employers have taken matters into their own hands, with at least four physicians experiencing some repercussions for peddling COVID-19 falsehoods.

Houston Methodist Hospital suspended ear, nose, and throat doctor Mary Talley Bowden, MD, in mid-November, tweeting that she had been "spreading dangerous information which is not based in science." Bowden subsequently resigned from the hospital.

John Witcher, MD, said he was let go from Baptist Memorial Hospital-Yazoo in Mississippi after taking three patients off remdesivir (Veklury) and giving them ivermectin instead.

Sentara Hospital in Norfolk, Virginia, temporarily suspended the privileges of Paul Marik, MD, who has been a vocal leader of the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care (FLCCC) Alliance, which has touted ivermectin for treatment of COVID-19.

And Ryan Cole, MD, who has come under fire for promoting ivermectin and spreading falsehoods about COVID vaccines, has been severed from St. Luke's Health Partners in Idaho as of Dec. 22, though it wasn't clear whether the health system removed Cole or if he decided to leave on his own.

Earlier this month, the FSMB issued a press release stating that "at least 12 boards have taken disciplinary action against a licensee for spreading false or misleading information."

However, an FSMB spokesperson wouldn't identify the 12 boards -- though the spokesperson did provide links to news stories about five separate board sanctions. While four of those were against doctors already mentioned in this story, one was against a physician assistant.

Cheryl Clark contributed reporting to this story.

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