Doctor Who Claimed Face Masks Were Harmful Gets Jail Time

A German doctor has been sentenced to two years and nine months in prison for illegally issuing exemptions from wearing masks during the coronavirus pandemic for more than 4,000 people. Public broadcaster SWR reported that a regional court in the southwestern town of Weinheim convicted the doctor late Monday for issuing certificates to people from across Germany, most of whom she'd never met or examined. During the trial she'd argued that wearing masks was harmful to people's health, per the AP.

In addition to the prison sentence, the doctor was handed a three-year work ban and ordered to pay nearly $30,000, the sum she'd received for issuing the medical certificates. Her office assistant was fined about $2,850. The doctor's lawyer intends to appeal the verdict, SWR reported.

Dozens of supporters gathered outside the court in Weinheim, north of Heidelberg, to protest the verdict and Germany's pandemic restrictions. Germany ended requirements to wear masks in many indoor settings last year, though they're still compulsory on long-distance trains; in doctors' practices, hospitals, and nursing homes; and on some regional public transport.

(More face masks stories.)