Periodically, I send emails to my patients with updates about the practice. One in particular - sent a year ago today - caused quite an uproar. I share with you the original email from November 2021 and the follow-up email I sent out today.
November 5, 2021
Dear BreatheMD Community,
Yesterday was a turning point for me as a physician. Earlier this week, I testified on behalf of a dying father of 6 who was being refused ivermectin by his treating physicians. The judge ruled in our favor, telling the hospital's lawyer that I was to be granted temporary privileges and allowed to administer medications to my patient. I have never been denied privileges and have never been sued. My professional record is spotless with no grounds to not grant me privileges, but yesterday afternoon Texas Huguley hospital in Ft Worth, TX informed me that my request for privileges was denied.
I then received a call from a patient with a history of bladder cancer who was looking for a new urologist. Her current urologist works for Methodist hospital. He called her to tell her that Methodist was discussing denying care for unvaccinated people, and she should start looking for a urologist who can see her.
The final straw was the email I received from one of the surgery centers I operate at. I was informed that in order to continue operating, myself and my patients would need to provide proof of vaccination. I kindly told them that was not going to work for me, and I would operate elsewhere.
Given the current climate and the writing on the wall, I am shifting my practice focus to treating the unvaccinated. In order to make room for the unvaccinated who cannot find care, I will not be accepting new patients with routine ENT problems who are vaccinated. I will continue to care for established patients, vaccinated or not, and would never turn anyone away with a life-threatening illness based on their vaccination status. But this is my way of taking a stand, and I hope other physicians will follow.
I am not anti-vaccination, but all the data I have collected suggests that the vaccine is not working. 42% of the patients we treated last month with IV monoclonal antibodies for symptomatic COVID were fully vaccinated. I believe vaccination is a personal choice and like everything else in medicine, should be protected by HIPAA. I understand if this alienates many of you, but all my opinions are based on my clinical experience and not the news.
Thank you for your understanding and please feel free to reach out if you have questions.
Best,
Mary Talley Bowden MD
November 5, 2022
Dear BreatheMD,
One year ago today, I drew a line in the sand and sent an email to my patients declaring that going forward, I would shift my focus and prioritize seeing and treating the unvaccinated. Shortly thereafter, Houston Methodist Hospital suspended my privileges in a very public way - announcing my suspension to the Houston Chronicle and on Twitter rather than discussing with me - and attempted to jeopardize my ability to practice medicine by reporting me to the Texas Medical Board and the National Practitioner Data Base. In turn, I resigned my privileges (I was not fired and had never used their hospital since getting privileges) and continued to treat patients early and effectively for COVID.
Despite the efforts of Houston Methodist Hospital, my team and I have kept over 4500 patients alive and well during the pandemic (I never enforced the vaccination policy because there were too many sick vaccinated patients who needed help.) Every one of our patients who received early treatment has survived. We have also saved very sick patients who came to us in the late stages of COVID but were too scared to go to the hospital.
We are still seeing COVID and recommend being prepared with our early treatment protocol and a nebulizer. Being able to do breathing treatments at home is incredibly helpful - not only during COVID, but with any lower respiratory tract illness. Nebulizer machines and masks can be purchased on Amazon or at our office.
Sadly, we see many patients with chronic, ongoing health conditions following the COVID shots. Prior to COVID, I had never seen a patient with a vaccine reaction; now I see several a week. Most of these patients have been dismissed by multiple doctors and have lost hope. I have seen many respond to ivermectin, and if ivermectin doesn't work, other options are available. We recently added mild HBOT in our other space, BreatheSW, for patients with long-haul and vaccine injuries and infrared sauna (photobiomodulation) has also been show to be helpful.
Dr. Marcus Hershey (ENT) has joined our team and is available to see patients in-person or through telemedicine Monday - Friday 9am to 5pm. He treats COVID and all ENT disorders but has a particular interest in ear diseases and vertigo/dizziness. We are still hoping to add a PCP - please spread the word to anyone who might be interested.
We still encounter pushback from pharmacists at CVS, Walgreens, HEB, Walmart and Kroger over dispensing ivermectin. If you can, please patronize the pharmacies that have been cooperative and helpful - Apteek, Cypress Compounding, Piney Point Pharmacy, Magnolia Pharmacy, Gloyer's are among our favorites.
Thank you to everyone who donated to our research project. We are on the verge of getting it started, just waiting for IRB approval (an independent 3rd party has to review the study to make sure it's ethical) and will be looking at biomarkers in patients who have chosen to get the bivalent COVID shots.
You might remember Jason Jones, the sheriff's deputy and father of six who could not get ivermectin in the hospital. His wife sued the hospital, and I testified on his behalf. The hospital won on appeal, and during his 9 month hospital stay, he was never allowed ivermectin. His wife wouldn't give up and, unbeknownst to the hospital, applied topical ivermectin daily. Though he is still very weak, he survived, and Erin just sent me this photo of her husband taking his first steps in a year. Journalist Emily Miller details his story here.
Mr. Jones is one of the many reasons why I fight back. For more information on what I'm doing legally, please go to my substack account. (Substack is an online blog many have turned to in the wake of massive censorship from social media.) I also post on a new social media platform called DeMed where myself and other like-minded doctors share up-to-date information on COVID without fear of censorship.
Thank you to all of you for your support. I sense real changes ahead. Stay tuned for an announcement on a watch party for the newly released documentary "Making a Killing."
All my best,
Mary Talley Bowden MD
Your courage and dedication to patient care IS making a difference. I’m not opposed to physician employment by health systems but I believe it has negatively impacted the physicians ability to think independently when faced with new medical conditions. Dr. Vladimir Zelenko was one of the first, if not the first physician, to be attacked for his COVID treatment using hydroxychloroquine despite the incredible, documented success he was having. It has been a huge disappointment for me to see the medical industrial complex sellout under political pressure instead of standup for valid science and patient care.
Bless you for fighting the good fight every day against these monsters. You’re one of my many heroes. ❤️🙏🏼