Arbitrary government mandates in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have deprived millions of patients across the country of medical care.
Watch our recent virtual Lunch & Law with NCLA Senior Litigation Counsel Brian Rosner, NCLA Litigation Counsel Jenin Younes, and our client, Dr. Stephen Skoly, a top maxillofacial surgeon in Rhode Island, discussing his case against the state for arbitrarily shutting down his practice.
NCLA has filed a lawsuit on behalf of Dr. Skoly challenging Rhode Island’s irrational policies that violate the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. Dr. Skoly made the decision not to receive a COVID-19 vaccination due to the uncertainty regarding the risks involved because of a medical condition. He retains antibodies after recovering from a previous COVID-19 infection.
Because of his naturally acquired immunity, any risk his presence poses to a vulnerable patient is, at worst, identical to the risk posed by a vaccinated physician. Dr. Skoly is simply asking the State to treat him the same as other health care workers being granted medical or religious exemptions.
Why won’t the Rhode Island Health Department grant an exemption to a doctor with demonstrated natural immunity and an elevated risk of complications from vaccination? Can such a mandate pass constitutional scrutiny? (Spoiler alert: It can’t!)