“You can’t have free speech with a big star” – CBS Denver

DENVER (CBS4)– The Colorado Medical Board has appointed board-certified cardiologist Dr. Thomas Levy disciplined for promoting an unproven and controversial treatment for COVID-19. He was also disciplined for publicly warning about the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines.

(Image credit: CBS)

“That’s not authority, that’s authoritarianism,” Levy told CBS4 while discussing the state medical board’s recent admonition.

It appears to be the first time Colorado has disciplined a doctor for spreading COVID-19 misinformation, though a dozen other medical bodies across the country have previously disciplined doctors for what they believe to be COVID-19 misinformation.

In a letter to Levy obtained by CBS4 in January, the board said it was issuing a written warning to Levy for “committing unprofessional conduct.”
Advance hydrogen peroxide nebulization. “You have failed to meet generally accepted standards of medical practice,” the board wrote.

Levy, 71, has held a Colorado medical license since 1991, and this is the first discipline to violate his license. He currently resides in Florida. He wrote and distributed a book in 2021 promoting hydrogen peroxide nebulization for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19. The technique involves inhaling hydrogen peroxide in mist form. Hydrogen peroxide is a common disinfectant used to treat cuts and scrapes and is also used as a household cleaner.

(Image credit: CBS)

“It’s literally the perfect cure,” Levy said. “It kills the pathogens and leaves an optimal environment for the tissue to heal. When used as intended, it is the safest intervention available,” Levy said during a Zoom interview.

He admits that the treatment has not been scientifically studied, nor has it undergone a rigorous clinical study to evaluate its effectiveness. He claims he’s heard anecdotal evidence that it works and has received hundreds of emails from people who have successfully tried it, including “20 advanced COVID-19 patients in Colombia,” who he said have had recovered after treatment for COVID-19.

“Do you think that would keep you from getting COVID?” Levy was asked.

“Absolutely, absolutely,” he replied.

But the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America has warned: “DO NOT put hydrogen peroxide in your nebulizer and breathe it in. This is dangerous. It’s not a way to prevent or treat COVID-19.” The group warned, “Hydrogen peroxide can be toxic if ingested.”

Other medical professionals have issued similar warnings about this technique. dr Taison Bell, director of the University of Virginia Health’s medical intensive care unit, said: “This is not sound medical advice and I am surprised that anyone in the medical profession is recommending it. Hydrogen peroxide is harmful to your body.”

Bell continued: “There’s no point doing this and breathing this into your lungs — not at all. It doesn’t work There is no way to package that and make it true.”

Although the Colorado Medical Board warned Levy of potentially more serious discipline if he continued the unprofessional behavior, he told CBS4 he had no intention of stopping.

(Image credit: CBS)

“I will continue to spread science-based information. That’s not authority, that’s authoritarianism,” Levy said. “Maybe they think I was unprofessional for offering information about something I witnessed as a cardiologist and specialist. I’ve seen it heal people.”

The board previously warned in an advisory statement in November 2021: “The dissemination of inaccurate medical information related to COVID-19, which a licensee should reasonably know to be incorrect, poses a significant health risk to the public.”

A dozen other state medical boards have previously disciplined doctors for spreading COVID-19 misinformation. However, some Republican lawmakers have since sought to block their state medical boards from imposing discipline on physicians who share COVID-19 misinformation.

Levy, who says he contracted COVID-19 in December, was also admonished for warning about the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines. When asked if he was vaccinated, he refused to answer.

“Freedom of expression is freedom of speech,” Levy said. “You can’t have freedom of speech with a big star.”