Doctors' effort to end bias training won't get Ninth Circuit rehearing

Source: Courthouse News Service

December 29, 2025


(CN) — The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, on Monday, declined to rehear a petition filed by a group of doctors and a conservative advocacy group that were suing California over a 2019 law requiring doctors to take 50 hours of ‘implicit bias’ training courses every two years.

Dr. Azadeh Khatibi and the nonprofit advocacy group “Do No Harm” sued the state’s medical board in 2023, arguing that new training requirements violated the First Amendment. They cited “inconsistent evidence that implicit bias in healthcare is prevalent and results in disparate treatment outcomes” and “no evidence-based consensus that trainings intended to reduce implicit bias are effective.”

A federal judge in Los Angeles dismissed the lawsuit in 2024, ruling that the mandated implicit-bias courses constitute government—not private—speech and are not protected by the First Amendment. A three-judge Ninth Circuit panel agreed, finding that continuing education required to maintain a medical license constitutes government speech, including implicit-bias courses aimed at helping participants recognize and ignore subconscious stereotypes. All three judges were appointed by Democratic presidents.

The Ninth Circuit denied a petition for rehearing “en banc,” offering little explanation beyond stating that “the matter failed to receive a majority of the votes of the nonrecused active judges in favor of en banc consideration.” Justice Eric Tung, a Donald Trump appointee, issued a dissent.

Read more: https://courthousenews.com/doctors-effort-to-end-bias-training-wont-get-ninth-circuit-rehearing/