A Texas judge has dropped a criminal case against a doctor accused of stealing nine doses of COVID-19 vaccine – but prosecutors say they will continue to act.
Judge Franklin Bynum, a Harris County judge, dismissed the misdemeanor theft by a public servant charge against Dr. Hasan Gokal, ruling that there is no probable cause in the case against the emergency physician, who was later fired by Harris County Public Health. , the Houston Chronicle reported.
“In the number of words usually used to describe a retail theft charge, the state is trying, for the first time, to criminalize the doctor’s documented administration of vaccine doses during a public health emergency,” Bynum wrote in his command.
The judge also said the complaint in the probable case filed against Gokal – who had been jailed for up to a year in prison and a $ 4,000 fine – was “full of negligence and errors,” the Chronicle reported.
Gokal was accused of stealing a vial containing nine doses of Moderna coronavirus vaccine, which he said was left unused while working at a county vaccination site in Humble on December 29th.
Harris District Attorney Kim Ogg said Thursday that Gokal told a colleague about his actions a week later, which led to his termination following an investigation by county health officials.
Gokal said through his lawyer, Paul Doyle, that he opened a bottle of Moderna vaccine at the end of the day and offered the remaining doses to health workers and police on the spot, but they refused or were already vaccinated, the Chronicle reports. .
The doctor then called a supervisor who did not have patients available, prompting Gokal to use his mobile phone to find contacts to distribute about nine doses off-site to elderly residents or those with pre-existing medical conditions. The final dose was given to his sick wife, according to the report.
Gokal, who started working for the county in April last year, reportedly put the patients’ names in a state database. But despite Monday’s dismissal, prosecutors said they intend to continue the charges against the now fired doctor.
“Judge Bynum’s gratuitous remarks call into question his fairness and impartiality,” Ogg’s spokesman Dane Schiller told Chronicle. “We look forward to presenting all the evidence in this case to a grand jury.”
Meanwhile, Gokal’s lawyer is now planning an unfair termination process against Harris County.
“We appreciate today’s result and now we will move our efforts towards an unfair termination process,” Doyle told KTRK.
“As I said publicly last week, a public health apology from Harris County and the Harris County District Attorney to Dr. Gokal and his family will not be enough. The agency despised the name of this good civil servant and took his job for no reason. “
Doyle said he also hopes the incident will not discourage other health care workers from “doing their best” to ensure that available vaccines do not go unused.