On Tuesday, The Philadelphia Inquirerreported that a doctor in east-central Pennsylvania could face professional sanctions after offering a form letter on his website allowing families to claim an exemption from school mask mandates.
"Joel Yeager, of Heritage Family Health in Newmansville, Pa., in Lebanon County, posted the form letter on his website last week and the link began circulating among Pennsylvania anti-mask Facebook groups," reported Juliana Feliciano Reyes. "The Wolf administration said it is aware of these stock exemptions and would be referring doctors that author them 'to the appropriate licensing boards for possible disciplinary action.' Yeager has since removed the letter from his website and his practice's Facebook page but it is still available online."
Yeager's form letter, according to the report, attacks other doctors "who have chosen to abandon their patients in their hour of greatest need" by not offering exemptions.
It also claims that masks have "adverse side effects," citing a pair of discredited studies that the form says were only retracted due to "cancel culture."
As mask and vaccine mandates are enacted around the country in response to the latest wave of COVID-19 cases, many people have looked for loopholes or other ways to get around them.
Some people are paying for illegal fake vaccine cards. Other people are turning to chiropractors, who while they are not actual doctors, are still granting exemptions to COVID health orders. One chiropractor in Uniontown claimed that local mask mandates are "straight from the pit of Hell."