A Texas judge has dismissed the criminal case against a doctor accused of stealing nine doses of COVID-19 vaccine, but prosecutors say they will continue to prosecute charges.
Harris County Judge Franklin Bynum on Monday dismissed the theft of misdemeanors for a public official position against Dr. Hasan Gokal, ruling that there is no probable cause in the case against the emergency physician who was fired. later by Harris County Public Health, the Houston Chronicle reported.
“In the number of words commonly used to describe a charge of retail store theft, the state is trying, for the first time, to criminalize the documented administration of a vaccine-dose doctor during a public health emergency.” , wrote Bynum in his order.
The judge also said the probable cause complaint filed against Gokal, who had received up to a year in prison and a $ 4,000 fine, was “full of negligence and mistakes,” the Chronicle reported.
Gokal was accused of stealing a vial containing nine doses of Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine, which he claimed had been left unused while working at a county vaccination site in Humble on Dec. 29.
Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said Thursday Gokal informed a co-worker about his actions a week later, prompting him to be fired following an investigation by health officials. county.
Gokal has said through his lawyer, Paul Doyle, that he opened a bottle of Moderna’s vaccine at the end of the day and offered the leftover doses to local health workers and police, but they refused or had already been vaccinated, according to the chronicle. .
The doctor then called a supervisor who had no patients available on hand, prompting Gokal to go to his cell phone to find contacts to distribute about nine off-site doses to elderly or troubled residents. pre-existing doctors. The final dose was administered to his sick wife, according to the report.
Gokal, who began working in the county last April, is said to have put the names of patients in a state database. But despite Monday’s dismissal, prosecutors said they still intend to prosecute charges against the now-fired doctor.
“Judge Bynum’s gratuitous remarks call into question his fairness and impartiality,” Ogg spokesman Dane Schiller told The Chronicle. “We plan to present all the evidence in the matter to a grand jury.”
Gokal’s attorney, meanwhile, is now planning an improper resolution lawsuit against Harris County.
“We appreciate today’s result and will now make the transition from our efforts to an unlawful resolution lawsuit,” Doyle told KTRK.
“As I publicly stated last week, an apology from Harris County Public Health and the Harris County District Attorney’s Office to Dr. Gokal and his family will not be enough. The agency belittled the name of this good civil servant and took his job for no reason.
Doyle said he also hopes the incident will not deter other medical workers from “doing their best” to make sure the available vaccines are not left unused.