In an unusual move, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is backing a Texas doctor in her fight against the state’s medical board, which reprimanded her for treating COVID patients with ivermectin.

The Texas Medical Board (TMB), which licenses Texas doctors, reprimanded Dr. Mary Talley Bowden in October 2025 after a formal complaint was filed against her in 2023.

Paxton announced Feb. 12 that he intervened on Bowden’s behalf in the civil suit she filed against the board in January to reverse the reprimand.

“I will not stand by as Dr. Bowden has her Constitutional rights trampled and ability to serve her patients impeded with an illegal reprimand,” Paxton said in a statement. “Dr. Bowden has been a champion for health freedom, selflessly served her patients, and acted in full accordance with the law. “

“That’s why I’ve filed this intervention in support of Dr. Bowden and to ensure administrative agencies don’t violate the rights of licensed professionals in Texas.”

In his legal brief, Paxton asked the court to declare the board’s reprimand of Bowden void and permanently bar the board from taking further action against her for taking “life-saving measures” on behalf of her patient in November 2021. 

“The laws of this State, the Texas Constitution, and the United States Constitution aim to prevent the astounding miscarriage of justice to which Dr. Bowden has been subjected by TMB and demand an immediate reversal of the sanction imposed by the Texas Medical Board,” the brief reads.

In 2021, the family of a hospitalized COVID victim got a court order directing Bowden to give ivermectin to the patient, who was on a ventilator and in a medically induced coma. However, unbeknown to Bowden, an appeals court blocked the district court’s order shortly afterward. 

When Bowden’s nurse appeared at the hospital to administer the ivermectin, the hospital staff refused entry and called law enforcement.

Paxton said in a statement that, despite Bowden acting in good faith to care for a potentially dying patient and believing she had the legal authority to administer the medication, the board penalized and publicly reprimanded her.

In a social media post on X, Bowden simply said, “Thank you,” followed by three prayer emojis, under an announcement posted by the Health Freedom Defense Fund. 

“Dr. Bowden has been a champion for health freedom, selflessly served her patients, and acted in full accordance with the law,” the defense fund stated.

Bowden’s Houston attorney, Steve Mitby, told The Epoch Times that he was pleased with Paxton’s involvement, adding that the reprimand was the result of a political vendetta against his client.

“I’ve never heard of a case like this, where, you know, a state agency has gone so rogue that no lawyer could defend what they’re doing,” he said. “She was trying to follow the law, not break the law, as the attorney general pointed out.”

Bowden was one of several doctors who sued the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for urging the public not to take ivermectin to treat COVID-19. 

In a settlement, the FDA agreed to remove such guidance from webpages. Likewise, it agreed to remove negative comments on social media such as: “You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y’all. Stop it.”

The comments referred to the fact that in addition to its established use in humans as an antiparasitic agent, ivermectin also has veterinary applications.

The FDA didn’t admit any wrongdoing, saying that currently available clinical trial data didn’t show ivermectin as effective against COVID-19. 

“The agency has not authorized or approved ivermectin for use in preventing or treating COVID-19,” the agency stated.