Charges Dropped Against Harris County Public Health Officer Dr Hasan Gokal Charged With Stealing COVID-19 Vaccine Vial

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) – A grand jury could decide whether a Harris County doctor will be charged with stealing nine doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.

A judge has dismissed a case against Harris County public health officer Dr Hasan Gokal accused of taking a vial from a vaccination site in Humble. Records show no probable cause in Gokal’s case.

Gokal worked for the county and the district attorney claimed he stole the doses to give to family and friends, but Gokal’s lawyer said the doses would have been thrown away had he not intervened .

“It seems his motives were a bit more mitigating, it wasn’t like he was taking this drug to try and sell it,” legal expert Steve Shellist said of the case.

The district attorney’s office told ABC13 that the prosecutor has the option of taking this case to a grand jury. So far, no final decision has been taken.

If the case goes to a grand jury, Shellist said the judge has additional levels of authority where a judge can grant other forms of relief that would be beneficial to the doctor.

“Prosecutors are usually a bit reluctant to take them back and get them charged if a judge doesn’t think a probable cause exists,” Shellist said. “That doesn’t mean they won’t, obviously that’s a very hot topic, a very important question. If you think about it, you have so many people now who are complaining that they don’t have access to it. vaccine, meanwhile, this doctor’s family is keeping him ahead of the rest. “

In light of the news, Gokal’s attorney Paul Doyle sent the following statement:

“We appreciate today’s result and will now move our efforts towards a wrongful dismissal action. As I stated publicly 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 denigrated the name of this good civil servant and took his job away without cause. Managers must do more to correct this.

We also sincerely hope that this incident will not deter other frontline medical staff from doing all they can to ensure that vaccines are not wasted. “

According to previous reports, Gokal was accused of stealing the vial containing nine doses while working at the Lyndsay County Lyons Park vaccination site on December 29.

A week later, Gokal told a fellow Harris County public health worker, who then reported him to supervisors. Mismanagement of a vaccine can result in a loss of government funding for the county, according to Harris County public health officials, who first investigated the case, which resulted in Gokal’s termination.

Gokal had been one of the faces of Harris County public health during the pandemic, featured in videos and on town hall signs.

According to online records, he is in good standing with the Texas Medical Board and practiced medicine for 21 years, including nine years in Texas.

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