A doctor working temporarily for the Houston Methodist Hospital has resigned after being suspended for “spreading COVID-19 misinformation.” On her Twitter, the doctor allegedly promoted ivermectin, a common anti-parasitic that has been used since 1981.
According to KHOU, “The hospital suspended Bowden after they learned she planned to only treat unvaccinated patients at her private practice.”
Houston Methodist Hospital condemned her advice, stating that her opinions do not represent the hospital.
Houston Methodist CEO Dr. Marc Boom said in a statement, “When Dr. Bowden refused to remove these inaccurate and misleading statements from her social media accounts, the medical staff leadership decided to suspend her while they conducted an investigation, and invited her to speak with them. Instead of doing that, Dr. Bowden voluntarily resigned from the medical staff before a review was completed.”
A private ear, nose, and throat doctor, Dr. Mary Talley Bowden, worked at Houston Methodist under specific provisions. She came under fire after allegedly prescribing ivermectin to a Fort Worth law enforcement officer suffering from COVID-19 complications. After not being given ivermectin by a different hospital, Tarrant County sheriff’s deputy Jason Jones received the prescription from Bowden.
Bowden prescribed ivermectin after seeing that Jones went into a medically induced coma on October 7 after struggling with prior treatments, court documents show.
Now, Bowden faces a lawsuit. Texas Health Huguley Hospital, which had previously treated Jones, reportedly did not have ivermectin as an option for Jones’ treatment plan. The hospital called the common drug “medically inappropriate” for Jones’ case.
Jones’ family decided to sue Bowden. Along with Hugley Hospital, the WHO, CDC, and FDA have yet to approve the drug to treat COVID-19. They even warn that improper dosage of ivermectin can lead to side effects such as vomiting or allergic reactions.
Bowden also received criticism for her Twitter page, in which she takes an anti-vaccine and pro-ivermectin stance, ABC writes. One of her posts was followed by the caption, “ivermectin might not be as deadly as everyone said it was. Speak up!”
Ivermectin has spread like wildfire online. The drug was even mentioned by big-name stars, such as when Joe Rogan announced that he took it after contracting COVID-19.
According to Scientific American, some claim the drug does work; the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance swears by its “miracle drug” properties however, they are labeled as “fringe doctors” in an article that claimed the group does not provide ample evidence for the use of the drug, and the FDA does not recommend taking it.