The criminal charge was dropped against the dismissed area doctor accused of stealing COVID-19 vaccine bottle

HOUSTON – KPRC 2 learned that the authorities dropped the criminal charge against an area doctor accused of stealing a bottle of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Paul Doyle, Dr. Hasan Gokal’s lawyer, shared this statement through a representative:

“We appreciate today’s result and will now transition our efforts towards an illegal termination process. As I publicly stated last week, an apology from Harris County Public Health and the Harris County Public Prosecutor in relation to Dr. Gokal and his family will not be enough. The agency downplayed the name of this good civil servant and took his job without cause. More must be done by those responsible to correct this. We also sincerely hope that this incident will not prevent other medical personnel from the front line from doing everything in their power to ensure that vaccines are not wasted. “

KPRC 2 asked Harris County Health if Gokal would get his job back, but has not received an answer at the time of this writing.

Gokal is said to have faced a Class A misdemeanor, which carries a sentence of up to one year in prison and a $ 4,000 fine. Before the prosecution was dismissed, he was being prosecuted by the Harris County Public Corruption Division.

Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said in a press release last week that Gokal stole the bottle containing nine doses while working at the county vaccination site in Lyndsay Lyons Park in Humble on December 29, 2020.

Ogg said the case against Gokal is not over yet.

“All the evidence is likely to be presented to a grand jury and the cause can probably be determined by the grand jury. Judges do not have exclusive authority, ”said Ogg.

For more information on this story, read our initial KPRC 2 report.