An Oregon doctor who said that wearing a mask leads to carbon monoxide poisoning had his license revoked. The Oregon Medical Board’s records showed the revocation of his license on Sept. 2.
The doctor is Steven Arthur LaTulippe, and he runs a family clinic in Oregon. On top of the revocation of his license, LaTulippe is also set to pay a $10,000 fine. The Oregon Medical Board conducted an internal investigation regarding the remarks of LaTulippe and found him having engaged in eight instances regarding unprofessional or dishonorable conduct, 22 instances of negligence in the practice of medicine, and five instances of gross negligence in the practice of medicine, Business Insider reported.
Per the findings, LaTulippe’s negligence in his family practice at South View Medical Arts reportedly included not asking patients if they had been in close contact with someone who exhibited COVID-19 symptoms or if the patients themselves tested positive for the deadly disease. LaTulippe also reportedly asked his receptionist to screen patients for COVID-19 by just looking at the person’s facial expression and not by asking common screening questions.
The Oregon Medical Board added that LaTulippe trained his receptionist to “look at [the patient] and just take a look at them and see if they look sick,’ and, if the patient was ‘smiling and happy,’ the receptionist was instructed to ask how the patient was feeling.” Once the patient tells the receptionist that they feel fine and are not ill, they ask the patient to sit in the waiting area before going to an examination room.
Further, LaTulippe and his wife never wore masks from March 2020 through December 2020 while they treated patients. LaTulippe likewise told his patients they were not required to wear a mask in the clinic unless they were coughing, congested, or actively ill.
Aside from the mentioned negligence and unprofessional conduct, LaTulippe also told his elderly and pediatric patients that mask-wearing was dangerous. He claimed that the masks could aggravate asthma or “cause or contribute to multiple serious health conditions” such as stroke, pneumonia, and collapsed lungs. These were his comments aside from the claim he made that mask-wearing results in carbon monoxide poisoning.
The license of LaTulippe was initially suspended in December 2020, and when asked if he plans to follow COVID-19 protocols such as wearing masks, he said he will not. He was also asked if he were to choose “between losing his medical license versus wearing a mask in his clinic and requiring his patients and staff to wear a mask in his clinic,” he would “choose to sacrifice my medical license with no hesitation.”
Also Read: Texas Man Who Organized ‘Freedom Rally’ And Protested Against Face Masks Succumbs To COVID-19
