Paxton backs ivermectin doctor in Texas Medical Board fight

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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said he filed to intervene in a lawsuit challenging a Texas Medical Board reprimand of Houston doctor Mary Talley Bowden, whose discipline centered on her prescribing ivermectin to a COVID-19 patient in a Fort Worth hospital where she did not have privileges.

Paxton’s office said the intervention reflects his view that Bowden’s constitutional rights were violated by the state agency and that her ability to serve patients was harmed. In a news release, Paxton said, “I will not stand by as Dr. Bowden has her Constitutional rights trampled and ability to serve her patients impeded with an illegal reprimand,” and he called Bowden a “champion for health freedom.” Paxton said he filed the intervention “to ensure administrative agencies don’t violate the rights of licensed professionals in Texas.”

The Texas Medical Board, which licenses physicians to practice in Texas, reprimanded Bowden in October. The reprimand stemmed from what the board described as her prescribing ivermectin to a COVID-19 patient in a Fort Worth hospital during the height of the pandemic in October 2021. Bowden sought reconsideration, but the board issued a final order in December upholding the reprimand.

Bowden has since sued the Texas Medical Board to overturn the reprimand, and Paxton’s intervention is now part of that litigation. The Texas Medical Board declined to comment on the case, according to the report.

Bowden told The Texas Tribune she was pleased with Paxton’s support. “It’s been a four and a half year fight,” Bowden said, adding, “I’m thrilled and I hope we can put this matter to rest. It’s not just important for myself but for patients.”

The report also described the politically charged context around ivermectin and COVID-19. It said some opponents of a COVID-19 vaccine turned to ivermectin and that the drug became associated with a “medical freedom” movement. It also noted that last year Texas became the fifth state to allow pharmacies to sell ivermectin without a prescription, a change attributed in the report to efforts by anti-vaccine activists.

Paxton’s support arrived as he faces a political test of his own. Observers said the timing could matter as he challenges incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in what they described as a close GOP primary. Matthew Wilson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University, said primary elections typically attract fewer voters and can become tight races that lead to runoffs, and he said an appeal to special interests within a party can help draw voters to the polls. Wilson also linked ivermectin to the “MAHA” movement and said, “Ivermectin is the MAHA wonder drug,” adding that anyone prescribing ivermectin would be seen as a hero in that political contingent, with intervening on Bowden’s behalf sending a signal to them.

The report said Paxton’s office declined to comment on why the attorney general is backing Bowden against the state board that Paxton’s office is charged with defending. It added that Paxton previously took positions that conflicted with state agencies, including backing the Republican Party of Texas after the party sued over Texas election laws allowing open primaries.

The dispute also traces back to earlier legal fights involving Bowden and the hospital where the patient was treated. In 2021, Houston Methodist Hospital suspended Bowden, a COVID-19 vaccine critic, for spreading misinformation about the coronavirus, and she later filed a $25 million defamation suit that was dismissed. In the same year, Bowden prescribed ivermectin as treatment for Jason Jones, a Tarrant County sheriff’s deputy hospitalized at Texas Health Huguley after being diagnosed with COVID-19.

According to the Texas Medical Board ruling described in the report, Jones’ wife sued the hospital to allow Bowden to treat Jones with ivermectin. The district court initially sided with the wife and ordered Texas Health Huguley to grant Bowden privileges, but the hospital appealed and the appeals court temporarily stayed the order pending a final decision. The report said the appeals court ultimately ruled that the trial court lacked legal authority to order the hospital to grant privileges.

The Medical Board’s description, as reported, said Bowden emailed the hospital after the stay, indicating she would send a nurse to administer the ivermectin dose and including a brief request for privileges. The report said the hospital responded that Bowden did not have privileges and needed to apply; less than an hour later, Bowden replied that she was sending a nurse within 30 minutes. The Medical Board said that by the time the nurse arrived, the hospital still had not granted privileges and staff then called Fort Worth police.

A later section of the report said Jones died in April 2023, more than a year after the events, and that his cause of death was not disclosed in his obituary. The report also cited language from the board’s October ruling, including that the board said, “Respondent knew she did not have privileges to administer her prescription to Patient” and that the panel worried Bowden “may repeat her attempt to disregard a hospital’s rules on physician credentialing and treat an inpatient at a facility where she is not privileged.”

The report included an update that corrected details about the initial court order requiring the hospital to grant privileges and what the hospital had asked Bowden to do regarding privileges before she said she would send a nurse.