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Doctor accused of spreading COVID misinformation has license suspended in Maine

A doctor accused of spreading COVID-19 misinformation by other medical providers had his license suspended in Maine.

The suspension followed a review of the misinformation reports and several COVID-19 vaccine exemption letters signed by Dr. Paul Gosselin, according to a decision by Maine’s Board of Osteopathic Licensure on Nov. 19.

The board said Gosselin, who has practiced as an osteopathic physician in the state since 1999, “engaged in conduct that constitutes fraud or deceit,” as well as “incompetence” and “unprofessional conduct.”

Osteopathic physicians practice in every area of medicine.

His license suspension will last through Dec. 18, but it is bound by further action by the board at an adjudicatory hearing planned to take place, the board’s decision said.

A hearing date is not yet scheduled at the time of writing, Susan Strout, the executive secretary for the board, told McClatchy News in a statement.

The board did not specify the type of COVID-19 exemption letters Gosselin signed and did not say what COVID-19 misinformation he is accused of spreading.

This is the first time disciplinary action was taken against a doctor for COVID-19 misinformation in Maine, according to Strout.

Gosselin runs the Patriots Health clinic which provides “affordable attentive holistic healthcare” in Waterville, 20 miles north of the state capital Augusta, according to the clinic’s website.

McClatchy News has reached out to Gosselin’s clinic for further comment.

The doctor recently began a GoFundMe account for himself, which is now disabled, in an attempt to raise $100,000 for his own legal costs amid his suspension “for writing exemption letters and treating Covid,” he said, the Portland Press Herald reported.

“This is not about Dr. Gosselin retaining his medical license but it is about revealing the truth about the current restrictions being imposed on our children and the American people,” Gosselin had written on the fundraising page, according to the outlet.

Although the doctor is due for an adjudicatory hearing regarding his medical license, this would not be the first time he was subject to such a hearing by the licensing board to determine if disciplinary action should be taken against him.

In a board decision that outlined a history of “unprofessional conduct,” dated July 17, 2014, Gosselin’s license was ordered to be suspended for 450 days.

That could have been shortened depending on a mandatory 90-day suspension followed by him completing terms of his probation, which included treatment for substance abuse and mental health. It’s unclear whether he completed those terms.

The findings of facts in regards to the 2014 suspension included how Gosselin entered into a 2002 consent agreement with the board. He agreed he engaged in “unprofessional conduct” by trying to obtain a “nonscheduled drug” for himself by posing as his physician assistant in 2001.

In 2012, the board found that Gosellin “committed unprofessional conduct” and engaged in “sexual violation and/or sexual impropriety with a patient,” according to the decision that outlined other infractions.

As for his current license suspension, Gosselin cannot practice osteopathic medicine.

He must arrange for his patients to be cared for by another medical provider, the board said.

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