Dr. Eric Hensen is the lates guest on the podcast, and he joined me by video.
Dr. Hensen is an ear, throat and nose specialist practicing in Texas.
In 2020, he inserted himself into a national debate.
He’ll be on the right side of history, but his career may not survive it.
In 2020, Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott issued a statewide mandate requiring masks to be worn in most public settings. Here’s more from the Houston Public Media.
On July 2, 2020, Gov. Abbott issued an executive order requiring Texans to wear facemasks in most public settings, …something very unpopular with hardline conservatives in his party.
Weeks later, he addressed the order at the Republican Party of Texas' virtual convention.
"I know that many of you do not like the mask requirement. I don't either," he said in a recorded address. "It is the last thing that I wanted to do. Actually, the next to last."
As KERA's Bret Jaspers reported at the time, "The effort to shore up support among party activists comes as Abbott is under fire over his response to the coronavirus outbreak." By July 2020, eight county Republican parties had formally censured the governor.
Dr. Hensen disagreed. He didn’t believe in the efficacy of masks.
“I have one hundred years of data to back me up,” Dr. Hensen told me on the podcast. He has been in contact with Dr. Stephen Petty. Dr. Petty was one of one hundred fifty doctors who signed on to a letter to Dr. Anthony Fauci, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, and others urging them not to follow through on any mask mandates because they are not productive. Part of the letter is below.
Dr. Petty also made a video on the subject.
These days, most people side with Dr. Hensen and Dr. Petty; mask mandates were an exercise in power and control- not an exercise in controlling the virus.
No studies show masks work well against respiratory infections like COVID-19, a top White House health official has acknowledged.
“There is no study in the world that shows that masks work that well,” Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House’s COVID-19 coordinator, said during a recent discussion with the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Jha made the statement as he promoted the investments that have been made in improving air quality as a way to cut down on COVID-19 infections.
“So you’re never going to get the kind of benefit from mandatory year-round masking as you would from making substantial improvements in indoor air quality, plus it’s a lot easier to implement as well,” Jha added. “So this is an area where we’re doing a lot and trying to really encourage people to use the resources they have to make those investments and start really improving ventilation filtration in buildings.”
Jha’s admission is unusual for him as he frequently advised people to wear masks during the pandemic and hyped their effectiveness.
The policy in Dr. Hensen’s office was that no one was required to wear a mask, though patients could.
“When it came time for the exam because I work up here,” Dr. Hensen said pointing to his nose area, “they would have to take it off at some point.”
This put him at odds with this mandate- which lasted about half a year.
Enter the Texas Medical Board (TMB), which cited Dr. Hensen for violating Governor Abbott’s mandate. A violation of the mandate was a violation of their policies, the TMB argued. Below is part of the TMB’s summary of allegations.
Dr. Hensen was put in front of the TMB’s disciplinary board. This process lasted months and was nearly resolved in late 2021.
He was given a “remedial plan”, according to TMB notes, but Dr. Hensen did not complete it.
“Due to lack of time, and the fact I did not essentially want to do this because I disagreed with everything.” Dr. Hensen said on the podcast, “Also, because he {Governor Abbott} rescinded the order and penalty, I should not have been held accountable.”
The initial penalty, I argued, was not that severe. It was a fine- $1,000- to do some jurisprudence and some continuing education.
I asked him why he didn’t merely complete these remedial steps.
“Because it was wrong: I was admitting guilt to something I wasn’t guilty for, and I absolutely did not want to do that. I wanted to fight that.” He explained.
Instead, Dr. Hensen created a long battle with the TMB.
Dr. Hensen sent me an email after the podcast and explained that this process was far from ideal.
Regarding my first meeting with the Texas medical Board, the physician that was present was not an airway specialist but rather a obstetrician/gynecologist which in my opinion is absurd as he has very little experience in the airway. The most recent meeting, which was on March 28, 2023, the physician that was present was a family practice doctor, again, not an airway specialist at all. During both meetings we presented decades of science that were random controlled trials which is considered the gold standard indicating why masks do not work and in fact cause significant problems. I asked them to follow up with the Rancourt article and the Meehan article along with the brief article written by Russell Blalock.
The TMB, which did not respond to an email for comment, was determined to take action against Dr. Hensen. In early April 2023, the TMB issued a set of sanctions.
The stiffest penalty was that Dr. Hensen was reported to the National Practitioner’s Database. His license was suspended for a couple days, which also caused an insurance company to suspend him.
The Governor of Texas appoints everyone on the TMB; I reached out to Governor Abbott’s office, but I received no response.
Dr. Hensen said he is not the only one targeted by the TMB for going against what the medical establishment believed regarding COVID.
Dr. Mary Bowden, also an ear, nose and throat specialist, was also sanctioned by the TMB for prescribing Ivermectin, while criticizing the vaccine mandates.
The Texas Medical Board (TMB) has scheduled a hearing to review complaints filed against a Houston-area doctor who publicly touted early COVID-19 treatments and criticized vaccine mandates.
Dr. Mary Talley Bowden, an ear, nose, and throat (ENT) specialist who studied medicine at both the University of Texas and Stanford University, came under fire last year when she promoted Ivermectin and other early treatments for COVID-19 patients. Last November, the Houston Methodist Hospital system publicly announced a suspension of her hospital privileges at their facilities, though she resigned voluntarily.
Since then, three complaints have been filed against Bowden, with the TMB accusing her of unprofessional conduct, practices “inconsistent with public health and welfare,” and “violation of laws connected to the practice of medicine.”
According to a TMB letter to Bowden and her attorney, her case has been referred to the board’s Litigation Department and Bowden is to appear in a video conference on July 27.
Michael Volpe Investigates Podcast The Impromptu: Episode 65 An Interview with Dr. Eric Hensen