Fact check: Rand Paul is still licensed to practice ophthalmology

Bayliss Wagner, USA TODAY
·3 min read

The claim: Rand Paul's medical license was revoked

After YouTube suspended Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., for violating its policies against coronavirus misinformation, some social media users claimed Paul would suffer more permanent consequences for his comments.

“Kentucky Senator Rand Paul just lost his license to practice medicine," reads text in an Aug. 11 Instagram post, one of several in this vein. "The American Medical Association (AMA) revoked the ophthalmologist's ability due to 'ethical concerns' and Paul’s 'blatant disregard for the Hippocratic Oath.'"

Paul posted a video in which he claimed cloth masks weren't effective at slowing the spread of COVID-19. Research suggests they are, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends them for community use.

Some commenters on Instagram celebrated the decision to revoke Paul's license.

But there was no such decision.

More: YouTube suspends Sen. Rand Paul over COVID-19 video disputing cloth masks

The quote in the posts was taken from a satire website. Paul is still licensed to practice ophthalmology in his home state of Kentucky.

USA TODAY reached out to several social media users who shared the posts.

Story originated as satire

The origin of the social media claims is a story on a satire website.

Andrew Hall's satire blog Laughing with Disbelief published the article Aug. 10. The made-up article says the AMA revoked Paul's license because "Senator Rand Paul has chosen politics over science-based medicine" with his opposition to mask mandates.

The Instagram posts are an example of "stolen satire," where stories written as satire are reposted in a way that makes them appear to be legitimate claims. As a result, some social media users are misled.

Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky speaks during the Republican National Convention at the Mellon Auditorium in Washington, D.C., Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020.
Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky speaks during the Republican National Convention at the Mellon Auditorium in Washington, D.C., Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020.

Dale McGowan, managing editor of Patheos – a religious news outlet that hosts Laughing with Disbelief – told USA TODAY in an email the article was clearly labeled as satire.

"Like all of (Hall's) pieces, it links to a page called 'Is This Satire?' that further confirms that it is satire," McGowan said. "Like The Onion and Babylon Bee, it is not uncommon for Laughing in Disbelief satires to be misconstrued as news or stripped of those clarifying elements."

Paul's medical license was not revoked

The posts say Paul’s medical license was revoked by the AMA, but that’s not the case.

The AMA can’t revoke licenses because it doesn’t issue them in the first place.

The AMA explains on its website that physicians must be licensed in each state where they practice. They obtain that license from a state's official medical licensing board, not a private entity like the AMA.

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Paul’s medical license is active.

Records from the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure show Paul is authorized to practice ophthalmology in Kentucky and has been licensed since 1993.

Our rating: False

The claim that Paul's medical license was revoked is FALSE, based on our research. The claim originated on Laughing in Disbelief, a satire website, but it was later shared in a way that presented it as fact. Public records show Paul has an active license to practice ophthalmology in Kentucky.

Our fact-check sources:

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: Rand Paul's medical licensed wasn't revoked

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