Controversial anti-vaxxer US doctor Simone Gold, founder of America’s Frontline Doctors and promoter of unproved COVID treatments like Ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, was placed on “inactive status” by the Medical Board of California after starting her 60-day prison sentence last week for taking part in the 6 January 2021 insurrection at the US Capitol.
Gold has long argued against COVID-19 vaccines, and during the 6 January riot, made speeches about COVID treatments in the National Statuary Hall as violent protesters were invading the building.
Not only was she found guilty of entering and remaining in a restricted building, despite law enforcement officials’ attempts to prevent her from entering, but she was also reported to have failed, despite her training as a physician, to help a police officer who had fallen in front of her.
Gold's representatives protested her sentence on Twitter saying she was “both a lawyer and a doctor with no criminal record, and her only crime was to protest government corruption”.
The Medical Board of California’s notice will continue throughout her term of incarceration, reports MedPage Today.
California law states that a “physician and surgeon’s certificate shall be automatically placed on inactive status … if that holder of the certificate is incarcerated after conviction of a misdemeanour”, said Carlos Villatoro, public information manager for the Medical Board of California.
In sentencing her to 60 days in prison and another year of supervised release, US District Court Judge Christopher Cooper said he did not think Gold was remorseful.
“It is obvious from the video we watched today that you were part of an angry and aggressive… mob… intent on getting past law enforcement and entering through those doors,” he said.
It is unclear whether America’s Frontline Doctors will continue to assist patients who want to obtain unauthorised COVID treatments.
The right-wing political organisation is affiliated with Tea Party Patriots co-founder Jenny Beth Martin and publicly led by Gold, and is opposed to measures intended to control the COVID-19 pandemic, such as business closures, stay-at-home orders, and vaccinations.
However, the organisation’s website urges visitors to locate a “freedom pharmacy that will provide you with the medicine you desire and deserve” by searching for independent pharmacies near their location
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Unproven Ivermectin resurfaces as treatment for long COVID patients
Fact File: Making sense of the Ivermectin controversy
Doctor commits suicide after being hounded by anti-vaxxers