The medical license of an Oregon doctor who refused to wear a face mask despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has been revoked weeks after a video surfaced of him dismissing Covid-19 as a “common cold.”
Steven LaTulippe made the comments Nov. 7 during a “Stop the Steal” rally in support of President Donald Trump outside the State Capitol in Salem.
“I want to expose what I call corona mania,” LaTulippe said in a video posted on YouTube by the political group Multnomah County Republicans.
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Less than a month later, on Dec. 3, the Oregon Medical Board issued an emergency suspension after finding that LaTulippe “engaged in unprofessional conduct or dishonorable conduct,” online records show.
According to the emergency suspension, LaTulippe in July allegedly told a patient who asked for guidance on when to get tested for the coronavirus that asymptomatic people should not be tested and that wearing a mask does not prevent transmission. LaTulippe directed the patient not to self-isolate because being around other people would provide immunity from Covid-19, according to the state board’s documents.