MAGA attorney general accused of lying about why doctor was punished

Far-right Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced last week he was taking legal action on behalf of a doctor he claims was punished for administering alternative COVID therapies — but the Texas Medical Board has come out and said his account of what happened is false.

Paxton, a scandal-plagued MAGA firebrand who is challenging incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in the Texas GOP Senate primary, issued a statement that he was "defending the constitutional rights" of Dr. Mary Bowden.

"In 2021, the family of a hospitalized first responder sought a court order directing Dr. Bowden, or a nurse under her supervision, to administer Ivermectin to the patient, who was on a ventilator and in a medically induced coma due to severe COVID-19 complications," wrote Paxton. "A state district court granted the order. However, shortly before Dr. Bowden’s nurse was set to arrive at the hospital, an appeals court blocked the district court’s order. Dr. Bowden was not aware of this stay. Dr. Bowden continued efforts to prescribe Ivermectin, and when the nurse appeared at the hospital, hospital staff refused entry and law enforcement was called."

Ivermectin, an antiparasitic medication often used to deworm horses, became a popular alternative remedy for COVID among anti-vaccine conspiracy theorists, who insisted there was a cover-up of its supposed miracle cure properties. Extensive research has found that Ivermectin is not effective in COVID patients.

"Despite acting in good faith to provide medical care to a potentially dying patient at the request of the patient’s family — and while under the assumption that she was acting in full accordance with the law — the Texas Medical Board issued an administrative penalty and public reprimand of Dr. Bowden," wrote Paxton, saying he would back up Bowden's lawsuit against TMB.

On Thursday, however, journalist Bayliss Wagner reported that TMB issued a statement clarifying why Bowden was really punished — and it wasn't for administering Ivermectin.

"The Texas Medical Board is aware of intervention by the Attorney General in a lawsuit filed by Dr. Mary Bowden," said the statement. "In pleadings and press releases, issued after the OAG previously undertook representation of TMB, OAG made numerous inaccurate statements. TMB has provided ample justification for disciplining Dr. Bowden for attempting to treat a patient at a hospital in which she did not have privileges."

"TMB intends to vigorously contest these claims and will stand firm to ensure hospitalized Texans receive care from doctors who are authorized to be on hospital premises," the statement concluded.