Judge pleads guilty to theft by Texas doctor accused of stealing coronavirus vaccine

A Harris County judge has filed a criminal case against a doctor accused of stealing nine doses of coronavirus vaccine.

Judge Franklin Bynum wrote in his order on Monday, dismissing the case that there was no probable cause to charge Hasan Gokal with misdemeanor theft.

Gokal’s lawyer said his client, who was fired after an investigation by the province’s health department, had just made sure the vaccine did not go to waste.

“He did everything in his power and used his best judgment to make sure these vaccines were not wasted,” attorney Paul Doyle told a news conference last week.

Doyle said Gokal was working at a vaccination center in Humble when someone was eligible by the end of the day. Gokal had to open a new vial of the Moderna vaccine to vaccinate the man, and the remaining doses in the vial would have gone bad within a few hours if not used.

After Gokal determined that there were no staff members or law enforcement officers on site to immunize, he sent a message to friends to see if they knew eligible people, Doyle said.

Gokal administered doses to elderly women and people with underlying health conditions and, according to Doyle, gave the last dose to his wife – who has several underlying conditions – before the doses would expire. He completed the required documentation for the doses.

Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg claims in a statement that Gokal “abused his position to put his friends and family in a row” before others, but the judge rejected a novel theory that did not amount to theft from the country. not.

Furthermore, Bynum wrote, the affidavit on the crime was “riddled with sloppiness and errors” and the credibility of the statements in it was not established.

Doyle said in a statement Monday that an apology from the district attorney and health department would not be enough and that a lawsuit was underway due to wrongful termination.

“The agency despised the name of this good civil servant and took away his job for no reason,” he said. “Those in charge need to do more to rectify this.”