A retired ophthalmologist who wrote opinion columns in the Lewiston Tribune regarding COVID-19 was denied a preliminary injunction on charges filed against him by the Washington Medical Commission at a hearing Wednesday.
Richard Eggleston’s lawyer, Todd Richardson, filed a notice of appeal for the denial Thursday morning.
Eggleston came under fire last year from members of the public after spreading allegedly false information about the COVID-19 pandemic in his columns, which questioned the existence of COVID-19 and the accuracy of COVID-19 death counts. He also promoted Ivermectin to treat the virus and questioned the efficacyof polymerase chain reaction tests, among other things.
A complaint based on those columns prompted an investigation by the Washington Medical Commission, and later the commission filed charges of unprofessional conduct. Eggleston is scheduled for a hearing with the commission Wednesday through Friday.
Washington law typically requires respondents to “exhaust all administrative remedies” before seeking judicial review. A few exceptions exist, including if “the grave irreparable harm that would result from having to exhaust administrative remedies would clearly outweigh the public policy requiring exhaustion of administrative remedies.”
In their motion filed May 8, Eggleston’s attorneys argued the charges against Eggleston, which included “moral turpitude,” a term referring to an act or behavior that gravely violates the sentiment or accepted standard of the community, and misinformation are protected as “pure” or “soapbox” speech.
In the motion, Eggleston’s lawyers wrote that the commission was attacking Eggleston’s free speech rights and that “prosecution by the Commission has had an obvious chilling effect on him, as well as other physicians.”
“It doesn’t matter what Dr. Eggleston said. Protected speech is protected speech,” said Eggleston’s attorney Richard Jaffe. “It’s not the job of the state administrative agencies to separate between true and false speech.”
But Kristin Brewer, the attorney representing the state, said the commission is not sanctioning Eggleston’s speech.
“Dr. Eggleston is not harmed at this point until there is an order from the Commission,” she said. “These statutes have not been enforced against him. That is what the (May 24) hearing is to do.”
Brewer also argued that the state was not seeking to target speech in the charges but rather enforce content-neutral state law that prohibits a medical doctor from making false statements about medicine. Other physicians, she said, have been disciplined under the same statute.
“Washington state law defines the practice of medicine … to include, one, advice, and two, the use on cards, books, papers, signs, or other printed or written means of giving information where somebody uses the moniker M.D.,” she said. “So, Washington state law defines that as the practice of medicine.”
Richardson said a preliminary injunction would allow for the matters in the case to be fully briefed and would not negatively affect the state.
“If we don’t put in a preliminary injunction, Dr. Eggleston then must go defend himself against what we believe are unconstitutional challenges,” Richardson said. “Then if he loses, he has to bear the burden of an appeal, which is also very costly and time-consuming.”
In the court order denying the motion, Asotin County Superior Court Judge Brooke Burns wrote that Eggleston did not establish he would be “irreparably harmed” by proceeding with the May 24 hearing.
Further, contrary to the argument in the motion for a preliminary injunction, the commission’s disciplinary proceeding is governed by the Administrative Procedures Act, according to the court order.
“Also,” the order read, “judicial review is only available for final orders, and there is no final order for this Court to review.”
Eggleston’s license is considered retired active-in-state, which means he may only practice in emergent or intermittent circumstances and may not receive compensation for his services.
Eggleston’s online hearing with the Washington Medical Commission is scheduled for 9 a.m. May 24-26. The public will be able to listen to the proceedings.
Sun may be contacted at rsun@lmtribune.com or on Twitter at @Rachel_M_Sun. This report is made in partnership with Northwest Public Broadcasting, the Lewiston Tribune and the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.
Opinion columns lead to charge against Eggleston
By Rachel Sun
Of the Tribune
When Richard Eggleston started writing Opinion page columns about COVID-19 for the Lewiston Tribune in early 2021, his writing garnered strong criticism from readers for claims that went against the guidelines of public health agencies. Now, his license could be in danger.
Eggleston, a retired ophthalmologist, was charged by the Washington Medical Commission for unprofessional conduct after a complaint was filed regarding several allegedly false statements he made in the columns, where he identified himself as a medical doctor.
Should Eggleston fail to defend against the charges or be found guilty, he could be subject to discipline including fines, monitoring, revocation or suspension of his license, or other sanctions, according to Washington state code. He has one month to respond to the charges.
The charges allege that in his columns, Eggleston minimized the deaths caused by COVID-19 and made false claims about the accuracy of testing, vaccine safety and efficacy.
The report further alleges Eggleston promoted the antiparasitic drug ivermectin as a treatment for COVID-19 despite a lack of evidence supporting its use to treat the virus.
Those claims are a matter of public health, according to the statement of charges, because they could lead people to delay effective treatments for COVID-19 in favor of ivermectin, or to decline COVID-19 vaccines assuming they can take ivermectin and be protected in the case of infection.
Eggleston’s lawyer, Todd Richardson, wrote in a statement to the Lewiston Tribune that Eggleston, whose license is considered retired active-in-state, did not attempt to diagnose or treat anyone in his editorials, but provide “sound alternative medical information.”
“(Eggleston) has tried to promote patient-health-literacy and advance the education and access to a range of available information so that patients and their doctors can make the best decisions,” he wrote. “He believes that a patient has a right to accept or reject any treatment offered but that to do so they must be fully informed and be able to intelligently discuss it with their provider.”
In a July 11, 2021, column, Eggleston wrote that because the CDC was reporting roughly 94% of COVID-19 deaths at the time listed other comorbidities, only 6% were “actual COVID-19 deaths.”
The report pointed to the fact that between 40% and 50% of the United States population has at least one risk factor, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, old age or other comorbidities that would increase their risk of negative outcomes.
“This means that having an underlying condition, including being an older adult, is associated with increased risk of death from COVID-19,” according to the report. “It does not mean these individuals died from their underlying disease and SARS-Co-V-2 was accidentally found during their illness.”
In the same column, Eggleston made several claims about the COVID-19 vaccine the report contested, including the claim that mRNA vaccines could alter human DNA, and that they do not confer long-term immunity.
For COVID-19 vaccines to alter DNA, the virus itself would also need to be able to alter DNA, the report stated. That claim has never been made or established, according to the report.
Eggleston’s claim that the vaccines do not confer long-term immunity is also false, according to the report.
“Cells that denote long-term immunity have been identified in vaccinated people, even prior to receipt of booster doses,” according to the report.
In a March 17, 2021, column, Eggleston claimed polymerase chain reaction COVID-19 tests are inaccurate.
“This statement is harmful to the public because it suggests that symptomatic persons should not test for COVID-19, and persons that test positive by PCR should not assume that they are contagious or need to seek care if unwell,” according to the report. “(PCR tests have) been shown to be accurate, even in different types of transport media and in a variety of samples shown.”
In the same column, Eggleston touted the antiparasite ivermectin as a safe and effective treatment for COVID-19. He also cited a clinical trial from Egypt that was retracted in July 2021.
“There have been numerous clinical trials conducted with ivermectin in people with SARS-CoV-2,” according to the report. “The results have been closely related to the quality of the studies, with the best conducted studies showing no effect on any of the outcomes of interest.”
Richardson, Eggleston’s attorney, characterized the complaint filed against his client as a product of “cancel culture” and a “keyboard warrior attack” based on political biases.
“Dr. Eggleston is a former member of the commission now investigating him. He is a man of integrity and who has stood strong to defend his name and his beliefs. He refuses to be intimidated,” Richardson wrote.
Eggleston’s columns drew several critical letters to the editor in the Tribune, as well as some letters of support, as well as two response columns from other medical professionals who were critical of Eggleston’s views.
Though each case is decided individually, those where practitioners fail to respond at all typically face more severe disciplinary action, said Stephanie Mason, legislative liaison and public information officer for the Washington Medical Commission. License suspension, revocation or fines are less common.
Eggleston has until Oct. 9 to respond to the allegations and will have the chance to request a hearing. If he does, it would typically be scheduled roughly six to nine months out.
“As Dr. Eggleston’s attorney, I have engaged with the process,” Richardson wrote. “I trust that truth will have out, and Dr. Eggleston will be vindicated; just as many of his stated positions in the editorial pages of the Lewiston Tribune have been vindicated.”
Sun may be contacted at rsun@lmtribune.com or on Twitter at @Rachel_M_Sun. This report is made possible by the Lewis-Clark Valley Healthcare Foundation in partnership with Northwest Public Broadcasting, the Lewiston Tribune and the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.
