Doctor's Issuing of Misleading COVID Vaccination Exemptions Prompts Investigation

A doctor in Washington state is under investigation amid allegations that she issued COVID-19 vaccine exemptions without providing any medical justification.

Dr. Anna Elperin, an osteopathic physician and surgeon in Ellensburg, Washington, has had her medical license restricted and is unable to issue COVID-19 waivers while the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) investigates the matter.

"Elperin allegedly signed COVID-19 vaccine exemption waivers for patients without charting or specifying a medical condition to justify the exemption," the health department said in an announcement last month. "Elperin cannot issue COVID-19 vaccine exemption waivers until charges are resolved."

The health department's investigation comes after local NBC affiliated TV station KING5 conducted an undercover report into Elperin in November, and alleged that she has been handing out coronavirus exemption waivers to numerous unqualified patients.

"Elperin issued mask and vaccine exemptions to four undercover KING5 journalists throughout the fall, without asking if they had a qualifying medical condition that precludes them from getting the vaccine, in exchange for a cash fee," the news outlet reported in its findings.

The TV station added that Elperin charged patients $150 to $200 for the exemptions, potentially raking in "tens of thousands of dollars from medical exemption sales a month."

In total, Elperin has been accused of issuing exemptions to dozens of healthcare workers, educators and university staff members in Washington state ranging in age from 28 to 55, according to The News Tribune. On multiple patient records, Elperin wrote "immunization not carried out, unspecified patient decision," and signed vaccine exemptions due to an unspecified "medical exemption."

Elperin then added that the unspecified conditions could not be disclosed due to patient privacy protections, according to The Tribune.

"[Elperin] mislead the patient's employers and the public by signing a document stating that the patients were exempt due to a medical condition that was not disclosable because it was protected healthcare information when, in fact, not medical condition was identified by [Elperin]," the health department's board of osteopathic medicine and surgery said in a statement, according to the news outlet.

Dr. Investigated For Vaccine Exemptions
A doctor in Washington state is under investigation amid allegations that she gave COVID-19 vaccine exemptions to unqualified patients. Here, a health care worker holds a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine before it is administered... Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images

Evidence against Elperin has so far indicated an "immediate threat to the public health and safety," according to the health department, which prompted a restriction of her license and a halt on her ability to further issue coronavirus exemptions.

In response to initial investigations, Elperin denied that she has been issuing unwarranted exemptions and told KING5 that: "Medical Freedom from experimental vaccines is still a Constitutional right of every American."

The state's health department said Elperin now has 20 days from December 29 to request a hearing to challenge the allegations.

Newsweek reached out to the Washington State Department of Health for comment.

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