Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has stepped into a long-running ivermectin battle, filing to intervene on behalf of Houston physician Dr. Mary Talley Bowden in her lawsuit against the Texas Medical Board. His move pulls a statewide political heavyweight into a dispute that started in the thick of the pandemic, after Bowden tried to treat a critically ill Tarrant County deputy at a Fort Worth hospital.
Paxton Files Intervention, Declines To Represent Board
According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Paxton filed a notice this week to intervene in Bowden’s suit and told the court his office would not represent the Texas Medical Board in the case. The filing asks to join the proceedings Bowden launched after the board issued a public reprimand against her last year.
Board Reprimand And Appeal Plans
The reprimand followed findings by administrative judges that Bowden acted unprofessionally in 2021 when she prescribed ivermectin for a hospitalized deputy and arranged for a nurse to deliver it even though she did not have hospital privileges, the Houston Chronicle reported. The public rebuke, issued Oct. 17, 2025, stopped short of suspending her license. Bowden has said she will appeal and has already signaled that more litigation against the board is coming.
Where The Case Started
The legal fight dates to 2021, when the wife of Tarrant County deputy Jason Jones sued Texas Health Huguley in an effort to let Bowden administer ivermectin after Jones was placed on a ventilator. A trial court briefly granted Bowden temporary privileges at the hospital, but an appeals court later reversed that order, ruling that judges should not swap in legal rulings for medical judgment, as reported by the Dallas Morning News.
New Law Changes The Frame
The latest chapter is unfolding under a very different statewide policy backdrop. In 2025, lawmakers passed a bill that Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law allowing pharmacists to dispense ivermectin without a prescription, and the change took effect late last year. The Texas Tribune reported that supporters cast the measure as a medical freedom issue, while critics warned it could fuel misuse.
Why Paxton's Move Matters
Paxton’s intervention gives Bowden a powerful state ally as she pursues her appeal and new litigation, and it raises the political stakes in a case that had already drawn interest from lawmakers. By siding with the doctor and declining to represent the medical board, the attorney general is reshaping how the dispute will play out in both the courtroom and the court of public opinion.
What Comes Next
Bowden’s attorneys say they plan to press ahead with appeals and additional legal challenges to the reprimand, and the board denied a rehearing in December 2025, according to the Houston Chronicle. With Paxton now formally in the mix, the case is likely to involve more filings and a longer fight over where the line falls between regulatory discipline, medical judgment and state politics.
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