A viral claim suggesting that Texas Children's Hospital has announced to 'no longer treat unvaccinated children,' is found to be baseless. The hospital authorities have denied the baseless rumors.
Lead Stories claimed that rumors originated following a post made by Merissa Hansen. The headline of the post made on December 6 read, "Texas Childrens Hospital Pediatric Clinics Announce they Will no Longer Treat Unvaccinated Children." It further included a screenshot of a X thread which carried an 'email' sent by the hospital to a patient.
The original post made by X user Dr Mary Talley Bowden read, "From @TexasChildrens pediatric clinic in Houston... no care for the unvaccinated.... "We respect parents' right to make medical decisions for their children. If you do not consent to having your child vaccinated against these diseases, we respectfully ask that you establish care with another provider who is comfortable caring for an unvaccinated or partially-vaccinated child within the next sixty (60) days."
"We will continue to care for your child during this time period. If you change your mind and do plan to fully vaccinate and your child, we ask that you establish a vaccination schedule with your child's pediatrician to have your child fully immunized as quickly as possible," the post concluded.
Here is the Truth
Lead Stories reported that the hospital has denied the allegations in an email sent to the outlet on December 15. A spokesperson for Texas Children's Hospital said that it is "not true" that the institution had announced it would no longer treat unvaccinated children. "As of this publication, immunizations were not a determining factor in whether a child would be admitted to care," the hospital spokesperson said in the email as per the outlet.
The outlet also reported that Texas enacted a state law, effective September 1, 2023, that prohibited clinicians from refusing services to patients enrolled in Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) based on their vaccination status. It also reported that the Texas Medical Board had filed charges against Bowden over her use of ivermectin in COVID-19 treatments and she was accused of violating Texas standards of care in 2021.
Meanwhile, Dr. Bowden also confirmed to Lead Stories that she had personally seen the email quoted in the post, though no evidence about the existence of the email was provided by her as per the report.
