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Dr. Fauci shouts back at Sen. Rand Paul over COVID-19 origin claims

The Republican senator from Kentucky claimed the NIH funded research in Wuhan that made COVID-19 more transmissible.

STAFF VIDEO, USA TODAY

After YouTube suspended Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., for violating its policies against coronavirus misinformation,some social media users claimed Paul would suffer more permanent consequences for his comments.

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul just lost his license to practice medicine," reads text in an Aug. 11 Instagram post, one of several in this vein. "The American Medical Association (AMA) revoked the ophthalmologist's ability due to 'ethical concerns'and Pauls 'blatant disregard for the Hippocratic Oath.'"

Paulposted a video in which he claimed cloth masks weren't effective at slowing the spread of COVID-19.Research suggests they are, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends them for community use.

Some commenters on Instagram celebrated the decision to revoke Paul's license.

But there was no such decision.

More: YouTube suspends Sen. Rand Paul over COVID-19 video disputing cloth masks

Thequote in the postswas takenfrom a satire website.Paul is still licensed to practice ophthalmology in his home state of Kentucky.

USA TODAY reached out to several social media users who shared the posts.

The origin of the social media claims is astory on a satire website.

Andrew Hall's satire blog Laughing with Disbelief published the article Aug. 10. The made-up article says the AMA revoked Paul's license because "Senator Rand Paul has chosen politics over science-based medicine" with his opposition to mask mandates.

The Instagram posts are an example of "stolen satire," where storieswritten as satire are reposted in a way that makes them appear to be legitimate claims.As a result, some social media users are misled.

Dale McGowan, managing editor of Patheos a religious news outlet that hosts Laughing with Disbelief told USA TODAY in an email the article was clearly labeled as satire.

"Like all of (Hall's)pieces, it links to a page called 'Is This Satire?' that further confirms that it is satire," McGowan said. "Like The Onion and Babylon Bee, it is not uncommon for Laughing in Disbelief satires to be misconstrued as news or stripped of those clarifying elements."

The posts say Pauls medical license was revoked by the AMA, but thats not the case.

The AMA cant revoke licenses because it doesnt issue them in the first place.

The AMA explains on its website that physicians must be licensed ineach state where they practice.They obtain that license from a state's official medical licensing board, not a private entity like the AMA.

Fact check: Rand Paul's office confirms he did not call for a judge to subpoena antifa

Pauls medical license is active.

Records from the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensureshow Paul is authorized to practice ophthalmology in Kentuckyand has been licensed since 1993.

The claim that Paul's medical license was revoked is FALSE, based on our research. The claim originated on Laughing in Disbelief,a satire website, but it was later shared in a way that presented it as fact. Public records showPaul has an active license to practice ophthalmology in Kentucky.

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Fact check: Rand Paul's medical licensed wasn't revoked