Unvaccinated oral surgeon sues after his medical practice shut down in Rhode Island
UPDATE: As of March 14, Dr. Stephen Skoly is allowed to see patients after the Rhode Island Department of Health dismissed the Compliance Order that shut down his practice, according to the New Civil Liberties Alliance. The original story is below.
An unvaccinated oral surgeon has filed a lawsuit in Rhode Island after his medical practice, which saw over 800 patients each month, was shut down over him not getting a COVID-19 vaccine, according to the New Civil Liberties Alliance.
He was banned from work as an oral surgeon, unless he got vaccinated, the same day Rhode Island’s vaccine mandate for healthcare workers went into effect on Oct. 1, according to an order by the state health department.
Now, Dr. Stephen Skoly is suing the state’s Gov. Daniel McKee and the interim director of the state’s health department arguing that “Rhode Island has arbitrarily and unlawfully prevented (him) from practicing medicine.” The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court of Rhode Island by the NCLA on Feb. 4.
The Rhode Island Department of Health declined to comment on the lawsuit. A spokesperson for the governor’s office told McClatchy News that it would not comment on pending litigation.
Skoly, who’s been a dental surgeon since 1990, requested medical exemption from the COVID-19 vaccine because of his history of Bell’s palsy paralysis, the complaint says, and he says he has “natural immunity” against the virus because of a “blood test” that confirmed he has COVID-19 antibodies. It added he’s “not an anti-vaxxer.”
He didn’t get the vaccine “due to the uncertainty regarding the risk of onset, or duration, of a palsy recurrence,” the news release says.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that COVID-19 vaccines “may be administered to most people with underlying medical conditions,” including those with a history of Bell’s palsy.
Additionally, the agency has said getting vaccinated is a ”safer and more dependable way to build immunity to COVID-19 than getting sick with COVID-19.”
Skoly was set to appear in court for a federal hearing at 2 p.m. Feb. 7, WPRI reported.
McClatchy News reached out to NCLA, a ”nonprofit civil rights group,” for an update on the hearing, and a spokesperson said the court denied a motion for a temporary restraining order filed by the organization that sought to let Skoly resume practice as an oral surgeon.
The complaint specifically alleges that in closing Skoly’s medical practice in Cranston, the state “has violated (his) rights to Equal Protection and Due Process of the law under the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.”
Additionally, it says a dozen staff members of his practice are now unemployed and his patients “have suffered an absence or shortage of critical surgery and other services.”
The state has allowed 365 healthcare workers a medical exemption from the vaccine, the complaint says. However, he didn’t initially apply for exemption by Oct. 1 when the vaccine mandate went into effect since he “understood” that “the risk of Bell’s palsy recurrence” wasn’t accepted.
After his medical practice was suspended, he requested a medical exemption, which was denied, according to the lawsuit.
The filing “seeks declaratory and injunctive relief against enforcement” of the state’s order preventing him from practicing medicine, the news release said.
Cranston, where Skoly’s medical practice is located, is 5 miles outside of Providence.
This story was originally published February 7, 2022 at 6:24 PM with the headline "Unvaccinated oral surgeon sues after his medical practice shut down in Rhode Island."
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