Austria probes doctor for undermining mask order

VIENNA: Austrian officials said on Friday a doctor had been barred from practicing and was under investigation for issuing notes to those not wanting to abide by orders mandating face masks in certain public places.

Martin Nowak of the doctors’ association in the state of Styria told AFP one of its members – whom he couldn’t name – had been barred from praticicing pending the outcome of a disciplinary procedure.

A doctor in the same region named Peer Eifler said on his Facebook page that he had been barred from practicing. Eifler has attracted attention in Austria by disputing the dangers of the coronavirus and offering a doctor’s note to exempt people from mask wearing in return for a 20 euro ($23) fee.

Regarding Eifler’s claim that he was the doctor in question, Nowak added: “If that’s what he says, then we won’t dispute it.” The public prosecutor in the town of Leoben, Andreas Riedler, told AFP on Friday that his office ordered police to raid a doctor’s home following multiple complaints from the doctors’ association and from residents that he was issuing medical notes without the required examination.