The attorney for a public health doctor in Harris County has dismissed theft and accused him of allegedly stealing a vial of the Modern COVID-19 vaccine, saying the doses would go to waste.
Paul Doyle, lawyer for dr. Hasan Gokal, said the country was trying to divert the blame for a random implementation of its vaccine program on its client.
“If these doctors are going to be prosecuted for trying to use leftover vaccines, there will be more and more wastage than already exists,” Doyle said. “They would rather put (doses) in a bin than face this public inquiry.”
Gokal was charged Thursday with a felony of theft by a government official. Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said he “abused his position to put his friends and family in line before people who went through the legal process.”
Doyle, who declined to make Gokal available for comment, offered a different version of events: Gokal was in Humble on Dec. 29, where the Harris County health department offered the vaccine to Moderna, to the elderly and patients with ‘ presented a risk.
Each bottle of the vaccine contains about 10 doses, according to the US Centers for Disease Control. Once a vial has been punctured, the dose should be given within six hours. Doyle said doctors were preparing at 6:30 p.m. before the close of the day when another patient was eligible.
After inoculating the man, Gokal had nine doses left, but no additional patients, his lawyer said. Gokal offered doses to health workers and police officers at the site, but could not find any users. He then asked a health department supervisor for help finding suitable patients, but the attempt was also unsuccessful.
Without access to any patient lists, Doyle said Gokal used contacts on his cell phone to qualify patients, including a 93-year-old woman who was brought home and a woman with 86 dementia. After 23:00 no other patients were available and the vaccine would expire, Gokal gave the final dose to his wife, who has a serious lung condition.
“He had about 15 to 30 minutes left, or this dose is trash,” Doyle said.
Gokal recorded the patients who received doses the next day in a state database, Doyle said. The doctor, who was appointed by the health department last April, was fired on January 8 after admitting to supervisors that he had taken doses from work.
Doyle said the bosses of Gokal said the doctor should rather discard the remaining doses.
A senior Harris County official said Gokal was rightly looking for other suitable vaccine recipients, but that he should return unused doses to his supervisor instead of administering them elsewhere.
The official said Harris County Public Health administered approximately 20,000 doses and wasted 25, 20 of which were lost when two vials broke. The department did not provide a written statement of its protocols for the distribution of vaccines.
According to the levy documents, Harris County Public Health employees were concerned that the department would lose money if it mismanaged doses and also instituted procedures to ensure bottles were not wasted.
Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg did not comment Friday on Gokal’s version of events.
“He admitted that he stole the vaccine, which for many people in our society is as valuable as gold, and gave it to his own friends and family,” said Dgg Schiller, Ogg spokesman. “He is now held accountable by the law.”
Gokal, who has been medical in the United States for 21 years, surrendered to authorities Wednesday morning, Doyle said. He was sentenced to one year in prison and fined $ 4,000.