Standing Tall for Physician Free Speech

Washington, DC - April 21, 2025

On April 16, 2025, Dr. Simone Gold and the AFLDS legal team filed an amici curiae brief with the Supreme Court of the United States, in support of the Petitioners in Kory v. Bonta. The Petitioners in this case are doctors Pierre Kory, Le Trinh Hoang, and Brian Tyson, along with Physicians for Informed Consent and Children’s Health Defense. The Respondents are California Attorney General Rob Bonta, Medical Board of California executive director Reji Varghese, and Osteopathic Medical Board of California executive officer Erika Calderon. The Petitioners are suing the Respondents for targeting physicians for spreading so-called COVID-19 “misinformation” and infringing on the constitutionally protected doctor-patient relationship. By submitting a petition for writ of certiorari to SCOTUS, the Petitioners are asking the High Court to reverse the decision of the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Since 2022, the medical and osteopathic medical boards of California, with assistance from state lawmakers, have been threatening disciplinary actions against physicians for providing free speech (information and opinions) to patients that depart from the COVID narrative issued by public health authorities. This speech being suppressed by the Respondent California officials includes alternative FDA-approved treatments for the virus, the alleged benefits of public health measures such as masks, and the safety and effectiveness of the experimental mRNA shots. Any doctor that refuses to comply with this “narrative” and deviates from the COVID-19 “standard of care” is subject to investigation, sanction, and even prosecution. The Petitioners sued, asserting that this speech is protected by the First Amendment and that patients have the right to be provided with this information - seeking declaratory and injunctive relief. The district court denied the Petitioners’ motion for a preliminary injunction which was later affirmed by the Ninth Circuit. Additionally, the district court held that the Petitioners did not have standing to bring their case.

America’s Frontline Doctors contends that by attempting to prohibit discussions of all viable treatment options available to patients, the Respondents' enforcement policy breaches ethical duties of honesty, transparency, and informed consent owed by physicians to their patients and arguably constitutes professional malpractice. Doctors cannot withhold valuable and life-saving medical information from their patients. The Respondents’ draconian interference with the protected doctor-patient relationship threatens to destroy the Petitioners’ ethical medical practices. Medical censorship can kill, and patient lives are at risk. This gives them firm standing to safeguard their rights and have access to the courts to redress their grievances.

Further, the Respondents’ coercive censorship scheme constitutes unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination and blatantly violates the First Amendment. By favoring speech that embraces only one viewpoint in this debate over medical treatment, the Respondents are choosing sides. This is particularly dangerous when the viewpoint discrimination adopted has been proven by vast medical research to be incorrect and the censored treatment options have been proven to be safer.

Lastly, both of the lower courts held that all physician speech to their patients is not protected by the First Amendment because it is incidental to medical care. In other words, a doctor's appointment transforms protected free speech into speech not protected by the First Amendment. However, merely labeling protected free speech as “incidental to medical care” does not change its character as free speech.

AFLDS attorney David Dalia states, “How can anyone believe that government censorship of free speech rights of physicians is a good idea? The American Medical Association recognizes that withholding medical information from patients is unethical. So why is California doing this? Why is California promoting, through this coercive disciplinary scheme, experimental COVID-19 mRNA gene therapy injections with terrible safety profiles? They threaten honest doctors who in their best professional judgment discuss simple, safe and effective cures using Nobel Prize-winning drugs such as Ivermectin. This is completely irrational. California is constitutionally prohibited by our great First Amendment from engaging in such egregious ‘viewpoint discrimination.’ We are hopeful that the United States Supreme Court will protect the free speech rights of physicians by granting these excellent doctors’ writ of certiorari in this case.”

AFLDS Founder and President Dr. Simone Gold added, “The COVID pandemic showed the world that tyranny no longer operates in the dark. Those seeking to usurp power and trample on the rights of the American people are doing so in plain sight. Tyranny is not TAKING hold in California. It has TAKEN hold. And as California goes, so goes the Nation. This lawsuit is not only about the free speech rights of California doctors. It’s about the free speech rights of anyone who holds a state license. Like our Founding Fathers, all citizens have a duty and a moral obligation to take a stand against evil. AFLDS and I will always stand for free speech. This is not the time to sit on the sidelines. Join us in the charge. Censorship, no matter what form it takes - no matter who wields it - must be held accountable by We the People.”

This pivotal free speech case has the power to set a precedent for all doctors being targeted by rogue actors and for all patients seeking truth in healthcare. We proudly stand in solidarity with the righteous Petitioners in Kory, and we will continue standing for physician free speech. Together, we are calling on the Supreme Court to grant their petition for certiorari.

Stay tuned - We will keep you updated on the status of this case and our efforts to protect the free speech rights of all Americans.

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About AFLDS

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Media Contact Lisa Alexander, Communications Director | Media@AFLDS.org