(a) A government entity that regulates the practice of a healthcare procedure, treatment, or service in this state shall not reprimand or sanction a healthcare provider, nor deny or revoke, or threaten to deny or revoke, a license, certification, or registration of a healthcare provider for engaging in speech, expression, or association that is protected from government interference by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, unless the government entity demonstrates by clear and convincing evidence that the healthcare provider's speech, expression, or association was the direct cause of physical harm to a person with whom the healthcare provider had a practitioner-patient relationship within the three (3) years immediately preceding the incident of physical harm.
(b) A government entity shall not refuse to issue certification to an individual because the individual has engaged in speech, expression, or association that is protected from government interference by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, as long as the individual was not providing medical advice or treatment to a specific patient.