Maine Physician Suspended for COVID Misinformation

The Maine Board of Licensure Wednesday ordered the immediate suspension of the license of a physician accused of spreading false COVID-19 information and, in a separate order Tuesday, ordered her to undergo a neuropsychological evaluation by a board-selected psychologist.

The 30-day suspension order said that Meryl Nass, MD, an internist in Ellsworth, made a number of false COVID claims in a video interview and on her website, and that allowing her to continue to practice “constitutes an immediate jeopardy to the health and physical safety of the public.”

“The information received by the Board demonstrates that Dr. Nass is or may be unable to practice medicine with reasonable skill and safety to her patients by reason of mental illness, alcohol intemperance, excessive use of drugs, narcotics, or as a result of a mental or physical condition interfering with the competent practice of medicine,” the Tuesday order said.

State documents also allege that Nass lied and said a patient had Lyme disease when they did not in order to get that patient a prescription of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) for COVID.

In addition, documents state that Nass has indicated she “did not intend to comply with masking and vaccine orders,” that the federal government “won’t let us find out” how many people are immune from less severe or asymptomatic cases,” and that the government is keeping important information about COVID immunity from the public.

Nass believes the federal government’s urging that all eligible individuals receive COVID vaccinations “doesn’t make scientific or medical sense,” and that federal officials are trying to justify “vaccine passports” to “mediate your financial transactions (and) will identify where you are any time,” the orders say.

The state agency alleges Nass claimed that “there may be things in these vaccines that the government wants to inject in us,” and suggested that vaccinations of children are being encouraged “for some other nefarious reason.”

Nass acknowledged that she believes HCQ, which has been shown to be ineffective against COVID, does in fact work, but that the government requires patients to sign consent forms for its use that are “designed to scare patients from using a safe drug that works well for COVID by making false claims.”

And, state documents allege, she acknowledged lying about her patients’ medical treatment in order to administer the ineffective HCQ.

In one of her responses to the board, Nass said she tried to treat a patient who became infected with the COVID virus but couldn’t find a pharmacist “willing to dispense the drug. I was eventually forced, when the pharmacist called a few minutes ago and asked me for the diagnosis, to provide misinformation: that I was prescribing the drug for Lyme disease, as this was the only way to get a potentially life-saving drug for my patient.”

In a Zoom meeting with members of the Maine state legislature, Nass acknowledged that “I lied and said the patient had Lyme disease and so the pharmacist dispensed the medication only because I lied.”

Nass did not reply to a request for comment about the board’s orders or about her discredited beliefs regarding COVID, COVID vaccines or COVID treatments.

The Maine licensing agency’s disciplinary action against Nass is among several increasingly issued around the country pursuant to a Federation of State Medical Boards recommendation that doctors who spread misinformation regarding COVID could be jeopardizing their ability to continue practicing medicine.