COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said he plans to veto a controversial policy that would've prevented the state from disciplining healthcare workers for spreading misinformation.
Dozens of bills are being sent to DeWine’s desk. Many have already been signed, but some are on the chopping block.
In a press conference Friday, the governor said he intends to line-item veto a provision of House Bill 315. Line-item vetoing is the ability for DeWine to pick and choose which policies within a larger piece of legislation get to stay or must go.
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The provision states that the Department of Health and state medical and pharmacy boards would not be able to discipline licensed healthcare professionals for "publicly or privately expressing a medical opinion that does not align" with the state's views.
"This would totally strip our regulatory boards of authority," DeWine said.
For example, this could allow doctors to spread misinformation or overprescribe opioids and not face punishment for saying it was their “opinion.”
"We think it's very important to hold doctors to the standard of care when evaluating whether or not they've committed misconduct," Medical Board President Dr. Jonathan B. Feibel added.
This policy was stuck into unrelated H.B. 315 but came from H.B. 73.
State Reps. Jennifer Gross (R-West Chester) and Mike Loychik (R-Bazetta) proposed the bill to prevent a healthcare provider’s ability to prescribe any FDA-approved medication "which is determined to be medically necessary for their patient," without retaliation from health or state licensing agencies.
This type of legislation has been introduced since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine became phenomenons during the pandemic after some since-debunked clinical trials went viral. The former is an anti-parasitic frequently used to de-worm horses, the FDA said. The latter is typically used to treat malaria. The FDA and CDC and many studies, like New England Medical Journal's, say that ivermectin is "not at all effective" in reducing the risk of hospitalizations.
A woman sued a Cincinnati hospital for refusing to give her husband ivermectin to treat COVID-19 in 2021. The now-deceased was unvaccinated. The judge sided with the hospital, saying there was no evidence ivermectin was proven to work.
But the other provision inside H.B. 73 would "protect [workers'] right to free medical speech," according to the bill sponsor.
"Despite the fact that health authorities continue to remind citizens to “trust their doctor,” some doctors are attacked for their prescription choices," Gross said in her testimony.
Some professionals have faced backlash for their actions during the pandemic.
Sherri Tenpenny, a Cleveland doctor who falsely claimed that the COVID-19 vaccine makes people magnetic and may be connected to 5G towers, is one of them.
She was under investigation by the state medical board and later faced suspension for refusing to cooperate with the investigation, the board said. Her license has been reinstated.
RELATED: Cleveland doctor, who said COVID-19 vax makes people magnetic, under state investigation
Another possible veto
The medical free speech veto is likely to happen, but DeWine is also considering shutting down another provision in H.B. 315. It would allow law enforcement to charge people money to access body camera and other video.
RELATED: Bill to charge public for police video sits on governor’s desk
"I am a strong proponent of police cameras and so as we have seen the proliferation of that — we think it is the best practice — it also creates a lot more film and a lot more video," the governor said when I asked him about transparency concerns.
The state or cities could charge people for the "estimated cost" of processing the video — and you would have to pay before the footage is released. Governments could charge up to $75 an hour for work, with a fee cap of $750 per request.
"Why would we want to put a cost on something that helps the public understand what's going on?" I asked the governor.
"Well, once again, we have close to 1,000 police departments in the state of Ohio. Some of them are very small," said DeWine. "What this amendment—again I've not made a decision about this— but what this amendment would do is allow them to recover some of the cost that is involved. This is a very heavy burden."
He is reviewing each bill on his desk, he said.
"Our team is looking through every bill to make sure there's not anything in there that we were surprised about or that we did not catch before," he said.
DeWine has 10 work days after receiving each bill to sign or veto.
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