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- Dr Hasan Gokal was fired in January for giving 10 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine that were due to expire.
- The Harris County District Attorney charged Gokal with theft, but a grand jury acquitted him in June.
- Gokal is now suing Harris County for over $ 1 million for discrimination.
- See more stories on the Insider business page.
A Houston doctor who was accused of stealing doses of the COVID-19 vaccine and later acquitted by a grand jury is now suing Harris County, Texas for discrimination for more than $ 1 million.
Last December, Dr Hasan Gokal was working with Harris County Public Health on their first vaccination site. At the end of a shift, Gokal tried to find people eligible for the remaining doses of the Moderna vaccine that were said to have expired and went door-to-door to administer vaccines.
Gokal was accused of violating protocols and sacking. District Attorney Kim Ogg has also filed theft charges against him.
Harris County Public Health also contacted the Texas Medical Board to open an investigation for unethical behavior which was dismissed in March. Gokal was unable to work until this investigation was completed.
In June, a grand jury acquitted Gokal of the charges against him.
Gokal told Insider it was soon after the charges were dropped that he started to think about suing the county, but it wasn’t until about a month ago that he seriously discussed it. with a lawyer.
He said while he was relieved that the case against him was dropped, the past nine months have taken a heavy toll on him and his family and hopes the lawsuit will do him justice.
“The first few months of this time were tough, I couldn’t do a job. I don’t know if my career is over. What will happen with the criminal charges and so on. Anyone in this Stress level and degree of uncertainty in life is going to be affected by this uncertainty, ”Gokal said. “It has been felt in my whole family. The children are young and you can see the stress they are going through. My wife, her condition has definitely gotten worse from all the stress.”
Gokal added that he also hopes to make sure it doesn’t happen again: “You talk about a doctor doing what a doctor does, and you suddenly make it a criminal problem. It shouldn’t happen to anyone. “Other. Any way you cut it, it’s just plain wrong,” he told Insider.
Additionally, Gokal said he wanted to draw attention to the fact that Harris County Public Health, like other public health agencies across the country, “is no longer using doctors and making decisions. by themselves without it “. He said these agencies were making public health decisions without the necessary experts like doctors.
“It has changed over the last year, and it’s a very worrying and dangerous trend,” Gokal said.
In a press release emailed to Insider, Gokal and his lawyer said the public health department told him “he picked the wrong people to help him – too many of them had names “Indians”, too many of them were Asians “.
“It is very clear that if he had vaccinated people named Anderson, Smith and Jones, he would have been called a hero and would not have been fired, charged, vilified and brought before a grand jury who thankfully refused to do so. indict, “Gokal’s lawyer said. said Joe Ahmad.
The Harris County District Attorney did not respond to Insider’s request for comment at time of publication, but previously told CBS News “The District Attorney’s Office is prosecuting state crimes that occur in Harris County. In prosecuting all accused, our intention is to seek and obtain justice in all cases. We follow a strict protocol of evidence-based prosecution. Criminal charges of theft by an official against this defendant were based on evidence obtained from witnesses and on statements by the defendant, both before and after his employment was terminated by the Harris County Health Department. Although it is also prohibited for witnesses grand jury in Texas to reveal what happened in the grand jury, they’re free to tell you what they witnessed in one incident. “
Ahmad told Insider it was not clear how much financial loss the accusations and lawsuits against Gokal would cost him, but they assume the impact will last for years.
“The full nature of the damage is not yet known because frankly, the economic damage is still being sustained. Dr Gokal works, he takes shifts in the ER. It is not the ideal job, but he does.” , Ahmad told Insider.
Gokal told Insider that the case is causing him a lot of stress and that he is not able to devote his attention to the patients full time.
Additionally, Ahmad told Insider that the publicity of the case negatively impacted Gokal’s reputation.
“We think he’s going to suffer in a year, in two years, if only for the nature of the publicity against him – how he’s been vilified, nationally, globally,” Ahmad said. “So, do we think the damage could exceed $ 1 million? Absolutely. We’ll find out more in time.”
Gokal said he was frustrated because he had done what he was supposed to do.
“I don’t think I was treated fairly so hopefully I get a sense of fairness out of it, that’s number one,” he said.
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