Pennsylvania Doctor Issued Blanket Mask Exemptions for School

As children return to school — many of whom are too young to be vaccinated against COVID-19 — Pennsylvania, among other states, is requiring that masks be worn inside K-12 buildings and other early learning programs. But the public health measure hasn’t been without pushback, including anti-mask action taken by members of the medical community.

Following reports that Joel Yeager, MD, of Heritage Family Health in Newmanstown, had been issuing a free, blanket mask exemption letter to parents of schoolchildren, the state issued a warning to other doctors who may be doing the same.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health told WGAL News 8 that it is aware of some doctors offering mask exemptions to people who they don’t even treat. Physicians doing so could face disciplinary action, they added.

In Yeager’s case, last week he posted a mask exemption letter he was offering on his website and his practice’s Facebook page, but it has since been removed from both places, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

In the letter — which circulated among anti-mask Facebook groups — Yeager decried other physicians “who have chosen to abandon their patients in their hour of greatest need” by not providing exemptions for masking and vaccination, according to the Inquirer. Yeager also listed “adverse health effects” due to masking, citing two journal articles that have been retracted.

School districts’ acceptance of Yeager’s mask exemption letter has varied, the Inquirer reported. However, the state’s Department of Education said late last week that letters that “do not include evidence of a student’s relevant health issue should not be accepted,” the Inquirer noted.

At the same time, it was not immediately clear whether Yeager — who did not immediately respond to a request for comment — or other local physicians are still offering blanket exemptions.

A spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of State, which includes the state board of medicine, told MedPage Today in an email that the department cannot confirm nor deny whether any licensee is under investigation or has been under investigation. If an investigation leads to disciplinary action, the associated documents will be made publicly available, the spokesperson said.

A search of Yeager’s medical license revealed no disciplinary action against him.

In fact, despite a national call to sanction doctors who spread COVID-19 misinformation, of 20 identified physicians who have participated in such behaviors, none had yet been disciplined by their state licensing agency as of last month.

Though that doesn’t mean that investigations haven’t been launched, it does mean that physicians are able to continue to spread such falsehoods to their patients and the public in the meantime.