Doctor resigns after posting COVID info ‘not based in science,’ Texas hospital says
.jpg "The doctor said she believes vaccines are “not working.” Data shows this is not true.")
An ear, nose and throat doctor at Houston Methodist Hospital has resigned after she was suspended for posting what the hospital called “dangerous misinformation” regarding COVID-19 vaccines and treatments.
On Nov. 12, the hospital tweeted that Dr. Mary Bowden, a private practice doctor who had recently joined the medical team, was using social media to post “harmful” opinions that did not “reflect reliable medical evidence or the values of Houston Methodist.”
In a string of tweets, the hospital added that Bowden had told her superiors she was vaccinated, which is required of all doctors at the hospital.
For weeks, the ENT had been using her social media to say that vaccine mandates are wrong and to support the anti-parasitic drug Ivermectin, which has not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration as a treatment for COVID-19.
Bowden also has advised those who have been infected with COVID-19 to not get vaccinated, although research shows those who are not vaccinated are twice as likely to be reinfected, McClatchy News previously reported.
The hospital confirmed to The Washington Post that Bowden had been suspended. The spokesperson also told the outlet that the doctor was granted privileges within the last year.
She later decided to permanently end her relationship with the Houston Methodist Hospital.
She tweeted on Nov. 15 that she had “broken free” of the hospital. The hospital confirmed it had received a resignation letter from Bowden that morning, the Houston Chronicle reported.
Bowden has also been in the news recently for an ongoing lawsuit with another Texas hospital, the Texas Health Huguley Hospital in Fort Worth. One family is suing the hospital to allow Bowden to administer Ivermectin to a man hospitalized with coronavirus.
Several doctors across the country have been suspended due to vaccine mandates.
In the meantime, Bowden has been giving interviews, including on The Michael Berry Show, a conservative podcast.
On Nov. 8, Bowden announced she will only be treating unvaccinated patients.
Bowden sent several of her patients emails, according to an article by a freelance journalist Bowden herself frequently retweets, advising them that the vaccine was “not working.”
“I am not anti-vaccination, but all the data I have collected suggests that the vaccine is not working,” she wrote in the email, according to journalist and commentator Emily Miller.
However, data collected by scientists and experts show the vaccine is working exactly how it is supposed to.
Steve Mitby, Bowden’s attorney, also told The Washington Post Bowden was not against vaccinations.
“Like many Americans, Dr. Bowden believes that people should have a choice and believes that all people, regardless of vaccine status, should have access to the same high quality health care,” Mitby told The Post.
This story was originally published November 16, 2021 at 12:11 PM with the headline "Doctor resigns after posting COVID info ‘not based in science,’ Texas hospital says."
