https://www.pnas.org/doi/epdf/10.1073/pnas.2216179120
This study looked at how critical care physicians responded about various medical topics related to COVID based on political ideology.
Conservative physicians were more likely to support hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin and less likely to support vaccination and vaccine mandates than liberal or moderate physicians. Conservative physician polarization was similar to a layperson, showing the limits of expertise at attenuating political polarization of medical treatments.
When the treatment name was experimentally masked conservative polarization was attenuated for ivermectin, showing that politicization was driving conservative physicians' evaluation of the data and treatment.
When Fox News media consumption was accounted for, polarization was also attenuated, indicating some role for information exposure.
The authors note that this may explain part of why ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine prescriptions had such strong regional differences. Physician preferences may drive some of that difference beyond just individual patient preferences.
Such politicization of controversial medical topics like abortion has been shown before among physicians. Though this study showed that the politicization affected how physicians interpreted scientific facts and research data for the topic, and not just value judgment. Expertise and information exposure were not sufficient to overcome this politicization.
Prior research has shown physician political ideology varies a lot between specialities. Surgery-related specialities more conservative than others.