Should doctors be allowed to spread medically inaccurate information under free speech? – WZVN-TV

CAPE CORAL, Fla. Should Florida doctors be able to spread information that isnt medically accurate?

A new bill could give your doctor more free speech and make it harder to discipline them for spreading questionable information. While free speech is a right it does have its limits.

Some medical experts say House Bill 687 could make it harder to discipline doctors for spreading misinformation.

Sometimes they can base opinions on their religious beliefs or their background, said Teresa Melendez who has concerns with the bill.

She, like many, feels a doctors right to free speech should not affect her health.

We want something that is scientifically proven for the sake of my health and anybody else, Melendez stressed.

The new bill would give doctors more free speech on social media and it makes it harder to discipline medical experts for spreading misinformation.

Barbara Garret of Fort Myers called it horrible.

Its scary and we trust them for science and information. Thats why you go to them because you feel like youre safe, Garret said.

Dr. Sue Hook runs The Samaritan Health Clinic in Cape Coral and also has concerns with the proposed bill.

Personally Im not going to tell my patients something that I dont know for sure, Hook said.

Dr. Hook, a nurse practitioner with a doctorate degree and specializes in family medicine said she fears HB 687 could muzzle licensing boards meant to hold doctors medically accountable.

If somebody is out there touting untruths and we can prove that is not true and its hurting people they should definitely be placed under some kind of discipline, Dr. Hook said.

The bill requires licensing boards to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the medical experts post was harmful.

I think this particular bill may have gone a little bit too far, said Dr. Pamella Seay

FGCU Constitutional Law Professor Dr. Pamella Seay stresses that free speech has limits and causing harm is one of those limits.

How far do we go in saying you can talk about everything. Are we going to have snake oil salesmen again? What is it that were going to have, Dr. Seay asked.

The bill also applies to nurses, dentists and massage therapists. The house bill does not have a companion bill yet in the senate, something needed before it could proceed to becoming law.

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Should doctors be allowed to spread medically inaccurate information under free speech? - WZVN-TV