A Texas judge has ruled in a criminal case against a doctor accused of stealing nine doses of COVID-19 vaccine, but prosecutors say they are still going to file charges.
Judge Franklin Bynum, Harris’ court of law, upheld the crime on Monday through a complaint from a government official against Dr. , reports the Houston Chronicle.
“In the number of words commonly used to describe an allegation of shoplifting, the state is trying for the first time to criminalize a doctor’s documented administration of vaccine doses during an public health emergency,” Bynum said in his order writing.
The judge also said the possible charge against Gokal, which carries up to one year in prison and a fine of $ 4,000, was “riddled with sloppiness and mistakes”, reports the Chronicle.
Gokal is accused of stealing a vial containing nine doses of vaccine against Moderna’s coronavirus, which he said was unused while working at a vaccination site in Humble on December 29.
Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said Thursday Gokal told a staff member a week later about his actions, which led to him being terminated after an investigation by provincial health officials.
Gokal, through his lawyer, Paul Doyle, said that at the end of the day he opened a vial with Moderna’s vaccine and offered the remaining doses to health workers and cops on site, but they refused or were already vaccinated, reports the Chronicle.
The doctor then called a supervisor who had no available patients on hand, who asked Gokal to go to his cell phone to find contact to hand out nine doses of extra-elderly to elderly residents or those with existing medical conditions. According to the report, the final dose was administered to his sick wife.
Gokal, who started working for the country last April, allegedly said that he had placed the patients’ names in a state database. But despite the dismissal Monday, prosecutors said they still intend to prosecute the charges against the now-fired doctor.
“Judge Bynum’s free remarks question his fairness and impartiality,” Ogg spokeswoman Dane Schiller told the Chronicle. “We expect to present all the evidence in a grand jury.”
Gokal’s lawyer, meanwhile, is planning an unlawful termination lawsuit against Harris County.
“We appreciate today’s outcome and will now transition our efforts to reverse an unlawful termination process,” Doyle told KTRK.
‘As I said in public last week, an apology from Harris County Public Health and the Harris County District Attorney’s Office against Dr. Gokal and his family could not be enough. The agency despised the name of this good civil servant and took away his job for no reason. ”
Doyle said he also hopes the incident does not deter other medical workers from “doing everything they can” to ensure that available vaccines are not misused.