A Texas physician who treats Covid patients has filed a $25 million defamation lawsuit against a Houston hospital that accused her of spreading "dangerous misinformation" after she spoke out publicly against vaccine mandates and in favor of treating Covid-19 with ivermectin.
Dr. Mary Talley Bowden filed the suit against Houston Methodist Hospital and its CEO, Dr. Mark Boom, on Monday in Harris County District Court.
Bowden, who has treated more than 4,000 Covid patients since March 2020, said the hospital posted statements about her on Twitter and to the media which implied she was "dangerous" for her public stance. Bowden in the lawsuit said the hospital and Boom damaged her reputation as a medical professional.
“Methodist is probably the most well-respected hospital in Houston, so for them to imply I’m ‘dangerous’ is a scar on my reputation as a doctor,” Bowden told investigative journalist Emily Miller. “They changed my life — they made me infamous. I’m self-conscious now, wherever I go.”
Bowden said the hospital never contacted her directly after she went public with her medical opinions on treating Covid. Instead, it posted on Twitter and sent a statement from Boom to a Houston reporter.
The hospital’s tweets mentioned in the lawsuit include:
Dr. Bowden, who has never admitted a patient at Houston Methodist Hospital, is spreading dangerous misinformation which is not based in science. (4/5)
— Houston Methodist (@MethodistHosp) November 12, 2021
These opinions, which are harmful to the community, do not reflect reliable medical evidence or the values of Houston Methodist, where we have treated more than 25,000 COVID-19 inpatients, and where all our employees and physicians are vaccinated to protect our patients. (2/5)
— Houston Methodist (@MethodistHosp) November 12, 2021
After posting the public statements about her, Methodist suspended Bowden's privileges. She resigned.
The lawsuit says Bowden "became increasingly worried about side effects from vaccines that her patients were experiencing… and developed concerns that the vaccines had significant risks. She felt the government wasn’t being candid about those risks."
Bowden said 10% of her current patients come to her for “ongoing side effects from the vaccine.”
Bowden said her Covid treatment focuses on what she calls “multi-drug, early treatment” which includes ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin. She also tells patients to take Vitamins C and D and Zinc.
The doctor said that none of her Covid patients who have received these early treatments have been hospitalized or died.
“I've seen somebody say Ivermectin is ‘potentially lethal,’ and that is straight out wrong. There is no way that Ivermectin is going to kill anybody.” -Dr. Mary Tallen Bowden @MdBreathe
(Thread 1/5) pic.twitter.com/DxanxKelH1 — Emily Miller (@emilymiller) November 16, 2021
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