A Rhode Island dentist has filed a lawsuit against the state after he was ordered to stop seeing patients for defying the state's vaccination mandate for healthcare workers, NBC affiliate WJAR reported Feb. 4.
Stephen Skoly, DMD, was ordered by the Rhode Island Department of Health to stop seeing patients at his practice in Cranston in October after he publicly defied the state's COVID-19 vaccination mandate.
The 34-page complaint is backed by the Rhode Island Center for Freedom of Prosperity, which Dr. Skoly chairs, and was brought against Gov. Dan McKee and former and current state health officials.
It argues that the state violated Dr. Skoly's constitutional rights by denying him a medical exemption. Dr. Skoly said he has a history of Bell's palsy and that the COVID-19 vaccine can aggravate the condition.
The governor's office did not provide a comment to the news station due to pending litigation.