Florida Doctor Brian Warden Awarded Donkey Of The Day For Offering $50 Exemption Letters To Anti-Maskers

A Florida doctor has been fired after he offered to sell parents medical exemption letters to help them circumvent school mask mandates.

Brian Warden, who was an emergency room physician at Capital Regional Medical Center in Tallahassee, posted online that he would pen the exemption letter for $50, according to the Tallahassee Democrat. Whether or not he successfully sold any such letters is unclear.

“We act with absolute integrity in all that we do, and it is our expectation that providers behave in a way that is consistent with those values,” hospital spokeswoman Rachel Stiles told the Tallahassee Democrat. “Immediately upon learning of this physician’s actions, we began the process of removing him from providing services to our hospital patients.”

Despite Gov. Ron DeSantis’ executive order banning mask mandates in schools and leaving the decision up to parents, more than half of Florida’s students are required to wear masks in schools.

By Wednesday, 10 Florida counties had passed their own mask mandates requiring a doctor’s note for students to opt out: Alachua, Broward, Duval, Hillsborough, Indian River, Leon, Miami-Dade, Orange, Palm Beach and Sarasota counties.

A lawsuit challenging DeSantis’ order is underway with a ruling expected for Friday. Currently, counties that defy the executive order face financial penalties.

[via TheHill]