Eggleston’s group again seeking U.S. Supreme Court injunction

Retired Clarkston ophthalmologist Richard Eggleston, who faced investigation by the Washington Medical Commission for sharing alleged COVID-19 misinformation, is part of a group of six plaintiffs who are again seeking intervention from the U.S. Supreme Court.

The group has filed a lawsuit against Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson and the Washington Medical Commission Executive Director Kyle Karinen.

The lawsuit stems from policies the Washington Medical Commission enacted sanctioning physicians who express public views that diverge from medical guidelines on COVID-19 treatment and prevention that are generally accepted by most major medical organizations.

Plaintiffs also include former professional basketball player John Stockton, who hosts a podcast where he opines on issues including COVID-19 health policy; Thomas Siler, a retired Washington internist; and Children’s Health Defense, an anti-vaccine not-for-profit group founded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Plaintiffs are represented by Kennedy, Richard Jaffe and Todd Richardson.

Richardson said he does not expect that the recent nomination of Kennedy by President-elect Donald Trump to lead the Department of Health and Human Services will affect the outcome of the case.

“Once he has that role, he no longer will be able to advocate in this case,” Richardson said. “It’ll be a sad loss, but I don’t think his nomination’s gonna change anything in the case.”

The group is now seeking an injunction by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas while waiting on a decision by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

The request is the second time the group has sought an injunction by a U.S. Supreme Court justice pending the lower court’s decision. The same request was made to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagen, who blocked the request.

“If they reject it, then we’re just back at litigating in front of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals,” Richardson said. “If they grant it, then all the cases are stayed except we continue on with the appeal of the dismissal (by the lower court.)”

The federal lawsuit is separate from two state-level cases related specifically to Eggleston.

The first is the Washington Medical Commission’s prosecution of Eggleston. The second is a pending case in the state’s court of appeals seeking a stay that would stop the medical commission’s prosecution on the grounds of freedom of speech protections under the Washington State Constitution.

Richardson, who also represents Eggleston in those cases, said the prosecution by the Medical Commission won’t move forward until there’s a ruling on whether Eggleston is granted a stay.

“In other words, there’s no sense in having us and the state spend the time and money going through pretrial litigation if we’re going to get a stay,” Richardson said.

Should prosecution move forward, Eggleston could be subject to sanctions including, but not limited to, fines, limitations on practice, or revocation of his medical license. Eggleston has been retired for around 10 years, but his license is considered “retired active,” meaning he may provide charitable services.

Richardson said Eggleston and his co-plaintiffs in the federal case chose to pursue their lawsuit because of discrepancies in opinions from courts in different jurisdictions on what protections physicians should be afforded when speaking on matters of public interest that are not within the realm of treatment for a patient.

The courts have already ruled that medical commissions do have the right to enforce a standard of care by limiting what a doctor says to their patient within the scope of practice, Richardson said. However, the question of “soapbox speech” in a public forum is still being debated.

“We have some judges in California ruling one way, Judge (Thomas) Rice has gone a different direction,” Richardson said of Rice, who presides over the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington. “We have the 9th Circuit leaning one direction and another circuit leaning a different direction. … We’re trying to consolidate one consistent ruling.”

Sun may be contacted at rsun@lmtribune.com or on Twitter at @Rachel_M_Sun. This report is made in partnership with Northwest Public Broadcasting, the Lewiston Tribune and the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.