
Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
A self-described "pro-freedom, pro-choice" chiropractor in Venice is allegedly signing a remarkable number of forms that exempt kids from wearing masks to Sarasota County public schools.
- So many forms, in fact, that WFLA found a 100-deep line of maskless parents and kids outside the spine doctor’s strip-mall office on Monday, when the district’s new mask policy went into effect.
The backdrop: The district’s new policy requires students to wear masks to school unless they provide a form signed by a health care provider certifying that the person "has a medical, physical or psychological contraindication" that prevents safe use.
- The form does not ask the health care provider to specify which ailment prevents the person from wearing a mask.
State of play: One parent said she went to investigate for herself after hearing Twin Palms Chiropractic was offering signed forms to anyone.
- "Nobody asked to see our children. The forms were pre-signed, there was a stack behind the counter and they were just passed out," the woman told WFLA.
The other side: "The parent and child come in, we evaluate what their conditions are, see if they have a valid legitimate condition that would warrant a mask exemption," the chiropractor, Dr. Dan Busch, told ABC7. "If they do not, they have to go on their way."
Worth noting: The district is scrutinizing suspicious forms.

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