Five years after COVID-19, how do red-state doctors still face persecution for heroically treating patients whom the medical establishment abandoned?
Instead of honoring doctors like Mary Talley Bowden and Eric Hensen with medals, the Texas Medical Board hounds them with investigations that could strip them of their licenses. The state legislature, meanwhile, has let the session slip by without so much as a committee hearing for bills that would end this travesty.
COVID exposed the worst kind of medical malpractice. Now, in Texas, we’re watching political malpractice finish the job.
Dr. Bowden, a soft-spoken ear, nose, and throat specialist based in Houston, treated thousands of COVID patients — none of whom died under her direct care. But 48-year-old Tarrant County Sheriff’s Deputy Jason Jones wasn’t so lucky. The father of six died needlessly in a Houston hospital that refused to treat him with anything beyond a ventilator. Hospital staff even covered his breathing tube to block his wife from administering ivermectin and barred Bowden from stepping in after writing him off as a lost cause.
In October and November 2021, Texas Health Huguley Hospital in Fort Worth fought Jason’s wife, Erin, every step of the way. Though hospital doctors had no recovery plan, administrators did everything possible to stop alternative treatments. Even after a court granted Dr. Bowden the right to administer ivermectin, the hospital threw up bureaucratic roadblocks: demanding a list of every surgery she’s performed, three letters of recommendation, and stacks of irrelevant paperwork — despite her record as one of Houston’s most trusted breathing specialists.
On Nov. 10, Bowden sent a nurse to the hospital to administer ivermectin. Hospital staff blocked her from entering, claiming an appellate court had stayed the district judge’s order — yet no such stay had been issued, and neither Bowden, her attorney, nor the nurse had received notice. The nurse turned around without ever stepping inside the ICU.
Jason Jones never received the treatment. The hospital discharged him at half his body weight. He spent the next year in poor health and died in 2023. In the end, the hospital got its way.
Process is the punishment
Jones’ story mirrors those of tens of thousands of Americans during the pandemic. Instead of holding anyone accountable or honoring doctors who fought to save lives, lawmakers have looked the other way. Rather than being celebrated, Bowden was hit with a Texas Medical Board complaint. Her alleged offense? “Disrupting” the ICU — despite the fact her attorney gave the hospital 30 minutes’ notice and she acted under court authority.
Bowden refused to pay a fine or submit to a mandated eight hours of continuing medical education. The board continues to pursue sanctions. The case remains open. She has lost hundreds of thousands of dollars and spent countless hours defending herself — all while continuing to treat patients. Without action from Gov. Greg Abbott or the Texas Legislature, she still faces the loss of her medical license.
At a recent hearing, Bowden attempted to call Dr. Mollie James, a Missouri ICU physician who moved to New York at the height of the pandemic. The board blocked the testimony, claiming James lacked sufficient credentials. Instead, they grilled Bowden about her political views on the COVID vaccine, citing her social media posts.
Four years after COVID’s failures became common knowledge, Texas still punishes the doctors who stepped up when others refused. Physicians who treated patients the medical establishment left to die now face professional ruin — while those who denied care walk free. The Texas Legislature has blown two full sessions without doing anything to stop it. The Texas Medical Board looks more like its draconian California counterpart every day.
No hearings, no accountability
State Sen. Bob Hall (R) has tried repeatedly to reform the board. This year, he finally succeeded in passing SB 2422 out of the Senate on a party-line vote. The bill orders the TMB to vacate all investigations and disciplinary actions against doctors who prescribed COVID treatments like ivermectin, spoke out against lockdowns or mandates, or refused to wear a mask. It requires the board to expunge all related records, refund fines, and reimburse legal expenses.
The Texas House hasn’t even held a hearing.
Abbott — whose mask mandate triggered many of the cases now under scrutiny — has said nothing. The governor refuses to push for legislation to correct the damage. Meanwhile, doctors like Eric Hensen, an ENT specialist in Tyler who treated thousands of COVID patients, still face the threat of losing their licenses. Hensen’s “crime”? He followed Abbott’s original mask guidance. The same governor who issued the order now watches in silence while Hensen’s career is destroyed.
COVID exposed the worst kind of medical malpractice. Now, in Texas, we’re watching political malpractice finish the job.
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