Doctors cleared of COVID-19 misinformation allegations | News, Sports, Jobs

August 13, 2024

Dr. Lorrin Pang is pictured at the State Office Building in Wailuku on Monday. Pang, who is also the state Department of Health Maui District health officer, was cleared last week of allegations that he spread misinformation about COVID-19 treatments last year. The Maui News / MELISSA TANJI photo

Complaints have been cleared against two Maui doctors for allegedly “spreading misinformation” about COVID-19, specifically the use of hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin to treat the virus, which federal agencies have advised against.

The state Regulated Industries Complaints Office in the Department of Commerce & Consumer Affairs said last week on its website that “no legal action” was imposed on Dr. Lorrin Pang, who is also the state Department of Health Maui District health officer along with pediatric cardiologist Dr. Kirk Milhoan, who is also the senior pastor of Calvary Chapel South Maui.

The two came under fire last year from state officials and legislators after a Honolulu Star-Advertiser story broke in August saying that Pang was a co-founder of the Pono Coalition for Informed Consent that backed controversial treatments for COVID-19 and that Milhoan supported the use of ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19. Milhoan also participated in a panel discussion last year with Pang and Merlyn Travis, co-founder and executive director of the Pono Coalition.

Last year, Pang said he helped start the group as a way to generate civil discussion about COVID-19.

Both he and Milhoan said they supported vaccinations.

Sign-wavers show their support for Dr. Lorrin Pang in August after the Hawaii Medical Board filed complaints against Pang and another Maui physician following reports that they backed COVID-19 treatments that state and federal health agencies advised against. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo

Shortly after, the Hawaii Medical Board filed separate complaints to RICO against Pang and Milhoan.

Pang’s attorney was notified in a letter March 29 that the case had been closed.

“Upon careful review of all available information, it appears that there is insufficient evidence to support violation of the Statutes regarding the practice of medicine,” Kavan Saiki, a supervising investigator for RICO, said in a letter sent to Pang’s attorney. “We will therefore be closing this case and no further action will be taken.”

Pang said he never was put on leave and has remained in his job.

On Monday, he thanked “the groundswell of supporters, known and unknown to me, who responded to my crisis.” Following the complaints against Pang, some supporters organized a sign-waving rally in August, praising his leadership amid Maui’s health issues.

“The encouraging local, state, national and international feedback kept pace with the viral spread of the allegations,” Pang said in a written statement “as a private citizen” and reiterated during an in-person interview Monday morning.

He added that those that supported him were afraid to speak up, including those in the medical community.

Pang said he “was asked not to respond” to inquiries by attorneys and officials regarding the case until RICO made its ruling. He said he is speaking now even as some told him to lay low because he feels he owes it to the Maui community.

When asked how he felt about being cleared, Pang said, “I respect the truth, and I have been respecting the truth for four decades, across many different governments,” referencing his experience as a physician, including as a former consultant for the World Health Organization and working overseas with the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.

“Furthermore, some might now point to new findings to show that in hindsight I was wrong, that ivermectin does not work,” he said in his written statement.

“I trust the medical community will put these kinds of claims in their correct context; that we often see variations in clinical and laboratory response depending on variations of strains as they rapidly emerge over place and time (malaria, Chagas, MRSA, tuberculosis, etc.).”

He pointed to the example of the monoclonal antibody drugs that had been useful for COVID at one point, but later were no longer effective against the omicron variant.

“In stressful times, like pandemics, everyone has to make character judgments quickly,” the written statement said. “For decades I did the same, monitored and judged researchers’ integrity during site visits for the WHO, and the research arm of Doctors Without Borders. There always will be errors of overreacting and underreacting. I trust that in the future we all are willing to work together to minimize these kinds of errors and mitigate their effects when they do occur.”

Milhoan could not immediately be reached for comment on Monday.

When asked what it told Milhoan about the investigation, the DCCA said it cannot comment on its investigation “which includes disclosing the content of correspondence between us and a licensee.”

Last year, Milhoan told The Maui News that he supports treatments such as steroids and monoclonal antibodies, but he was looking for early treatments to keep people out of the hospital.

“Usually people who suggest early treatment come under some type of scrutiny for what they’re doing,” he said in August following the medical board’s complaints. “I’m not an anti-vaxxer. I’m pro-vaccine. I’m not asking people to not get vaccinated. All I’m trying to do is, I see people who are infected, now what do I do? It’s too late (at that point) to say, ‘Go get vaccinated.’ “

Milhoan said at the time that he had cared for about 90 COVID-19 patients on Maui and had not prescribed hydroxychloroquine or ivermectin to all of them, saying it depends on what stage he treats them.

State lawmakers were critical of Pang after his association with the coalition surfaced last year. In August, Maui state Sen. Roz Baker, House Speaker Scott Saiki, Senate President Ronald Kouchi and the chairmen of both chambers’ health committees sent a letter to Gov. David Ige asking for Pang’s removal. They said that Pang’s actions as a private citizen undermined his public position.

Baker, who represents West and South Maui, declined comment on Monday.

When the information about Pang and Milhoan broke last year, State Health Director Dr. Libby Char and Ige both denounced the use of hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have warned against using the drugs to treat COVID-19.

Hydroxychloroquine is an arthritis medication also used to prevent malaria and ivermectin is a drug used to remove parasites in animals.

Some of the penalties the doctors could have faced included losing their license, suspension, censure or reprimand or limiting the scope of practice, along with fines.

* Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com.

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