A doctor in Alabama stirred up controversy this week when he pledged not to treat patients who have not been vaccinated for the coronavirus.
“Dr. Jason Valentine, a physician at Mobile’s Diagnostic and Medical Clinic Infirmary Health, posted a photo on his Facebook page showing him posed next to a sign that says ‘effective Oct. 1, 2021, Dr. Valentine will no longer see patients that are not vaccinated against COVID-19,'” reported The Birmingham News.
A sign encouraging COVID-19 vaccination is seen outside a park on June 30, 2021, in Birmingham, Alabama. (Photo by ELIJAH NOUVELAGE/AFP via Getty Images)
The post has since been set to private, and Dr. Valentine did not respond when reporters reached out to him and his representatives for comment. Valentine penned a letter for his patients, which he posted online.
“We do not yet have any great treatments for severe disease, but we do have great prevention with vaccines. Unfortunately, many have declined to take the vaccine, and some end up severely ill or dead,” he said in the letter, according to the outlet:
I cannot and will not force anyone to take the vaccine, but I also cannot continue to watch my patients suffer and die from an eminently preventable disease. Therefore, as of October 1st, 2021, I will no longer see patients that have not been vaccinated against COVID-19. If you wish to keep me as your physician, documentation of your vaccination will suffice. If you wish to choose another physician, we will be happy to transfer your records.
Valentine said three unvaccinated patients expressed a desire to get the vaccine following his post.
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