A Texas doctor has been fired and charged with stealing a vial of COVID-19 vaccine to shoot his friends and relatives.
Authorities say Dr. Hasan Gokal, who worked for Harris County Public Health, stole a bottle containing nine doses of Moderna vaccine while working at a vaccination site at Lyndsay Lyons Park in Humble on December 29th.
The theft was reportedly discovered after Gokal bragged to a colleague the following week, who then reported it to supervisors.
Prosecutors later determined that Gokal, 48, used the bottle to administer the vaccine to nine different people, including his wife.
“He abused his position to put his friends and family in line with people who went through the legal process to be there,” said Harris District Attorney Kim Ogg.
“What he did was illegal and he will be held accountable according to the law.”
Authorities say Dr. Hasan Gokal, who worked for Harris County Public Health, stole a vial containing nine doses of Moderna vaccine.
The theft allegedly took place while working at a vaccination site at Lyndsay Lyons Park (above) in Humble on December 29.
Ogg said Gokal ignored protocols to ensure the vaccine is given to front-line workers and people at higher risk of COVID-19 complications instead of being wasted, adding that mismanagement of the vaccine could reduce county government funding. .
Gokal’s lawyer, Paul Doyle, said in a written statement that his client is a “dedicated civil servant” who is looking forward to his day in court.
He added that his client had done nothing wrong, insisting that the bottle had already been damaged, but Gokal did not want to lose it.
‘[Gokal] It was ensured that doses of COVID-19 vaccine that would otherwise have expired entered the arms of people who met the criteria for its administration, Doyle said.
“Harris County would have preferred Dr. Gokal to let the vaccines be lost and is trying to disregard this man’s reputation in the process of supporting this policy.”
Gokal was fired after an internal investigation by the health department.
He was charged by a public service with a theft offense by a public official and is sentenced to up to one year in prison and a $ 4,000 fine.
Prosecutors later determined that Gokal, 48, used the bottle to administer the vaccine to nine different people, one of whom was his wife.
Gokal had been one of the faces of Harris County public health during the pandemic, appearing regularly in videos and on City Hall billboards.
The files indicate that he has been practicing medicine for 21 years and is in good condition at the Texas Medical Council, with no disciplinary record.
Woods Nash, an assistant professor of bioethics and medical sciences at the University of Houston College of Medicine, told ABC13: “If the accusation against Dr. Gokal is true, he has committed a significant breach of public confidence in the medical profession.
We trust doctors and other health professionals to put the interests of their patients and the public before their own goals and desires.
“This expectation of altruism is not altered by the pandemic. In any case, the pandemic only increases the urgency to put aside one’s own interests that conflict with the public good “, he continued.
Gokal was not arrested and no court hearing has been set. His medical license is still active.
The launch of the vaccine in the Houston region and other parts of Texas has been slower than expected, according to KHOU11.
Only 10 percent of Texans eligible for the first dose received them. In the Houston region, only Galveston and Fort Bend counties vaccinated more than average, while Harris county was 10%.
Gokal had been one of the faces of Harris County public health during the pandemic, appearing regularly in videos and on City Hall billboards.
Steven Brandenburg, 46, was arrested on December 31 and charged on Tuesday with trying to destroy more than 500 doses of Modern COVID vaccine.
In Wisconsin, a pharmacist was arrested in December after being accused of destroying 57 ampoules of the Moderna vaccine because he believed the vaccine would move the beneficiaries’ DNA.
Steven Bandenburg, 46, was charged this week with attempted criminal damage to property.
Prosecutors said Bradenburg was an admitted conspiracy theorist who believed the vaccine would move the beneficiaries’ DNA. Medical experts say there is no truth in the claims that COVID-19 vaccines genetically alter people.
Brandenburg told a detective that he took the vials out of the refrigerator at the medical center for three hours on December 24, then replaced them.
Then, the day after Christmas, he took the bottles out of the fridge again and left them out for nine hours, believing that they would make ineffective doses if they had not been refrigerated for 12 hours. But he said a pharmacy technician found the bottles and put them back in the refrigerator.
The Moderna vaccine should be stored between 36 and 46 degrees Fahrenheit.
If convicted, Brandenburg could face a $ 10,000 fine and up to nine months in prison. He is due to return to court on March 18.