Why I am suing Texas Tech

And how you can help

For the past month, I have been flabbergasted. At a complete loss.

In this post, I provide recently obtained evidence that in 2023 and 2024, the administration at Texas Tech's medical school knowingly violated federal law and the United States Constitution in ending my medical career. They did this in retaliation for my constitutionally protected, true speech.

This was not just a rogue administrator. The evidence that I present below suggests collusion involving clinical preceptors, clerkship directors, senior administrators, and even the Board of Regents--appointed by Texas Governor Greg Abbott.

From what the documents suggest, the coordination mechanism appears to have been between the senior administration at the medical school and Texas Tech's legal department.

The documents show that the administrators wanted me out. Texas Tech's lawyers, it now appears, helped them break the law.

They smeared me with fabricated evaluations. They systematically circumvented due process. They laid a documentary trail that was impossible for me to defend against and would ensure my permanent destruction.

They made it impossible to contest their outrageously false accusations.

While they were smearing me internally, there is evidence that the school administrators were leaking confidential information to students, residents, and other staff, who in turn leaked these smears externally, a violation of federal law. Individuals who received this information used it to conduct coordinated harassment campaigns against me. I will document the rest separately.

Hundreds of medical professionals piled on, spreading these smears on Reddit.

At Texas Tech, it was not enough to fabricate allegations to achieve my expulsion. The goal, it appears, was public reputational destruction.

As shocking as this is–it is so insane that I would not have believed it if it hadn’t happened to me–this is not the reason I am posting.

It gets a lot worse.

But before I tell you the rest, the documents. They will blow your mind.

An introduction. All senior leadership at both the School of Medicine and the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences were involved. Two Deans. Four Associate/Assistant Deans. The communications office. Multiple faculty.

Steven Berk, MD, Dean, School of Medicine (2006-2023)
John DeToledo, MD, Interim Dean, School of Medicine (May 2023-Feb 2024)
Simon Williams, PhD, Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
Lauren Cobbs, MD, MEd, Senior Associate Dean for Student Affairs

Brandt Schneider, PhD Dean, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences

David Trotter, PhD, Associate Dean for Student Affairs
Rachel Forbes, MBA, Assistant Vice Dean for Student Affairs, Covenant Branch

Elisabeth Conser, MD, Associate Dean for Student Wellness and Advancement
Jennifer Wilson, MD, Vice Dean, Covenant Branch
Noelle Zavala, MD, OB/GYN Faculty
Megan Brown, MD, OB/GYN Clerkship Director
Shaughn Nunez, MD, Associate Clerkship Director

Cheryl Erwin, PhD, Director, Center for Ethics, Humanities & Spirituality

Kelly Podzemny, Assistant Director of Social Media & Digital Storytelling

NEWSWEEK ARTICLE PUBLISHED - THE TRIGGER
Date: January 30, 2023
Title: "It's Time for the Scientific Community to Admit We Were Wrong About COVID and It Cost Lives"
Author: Kevin Bass
Published: Newsweek (Opinion)
URL: https://newsweek.com/its-time-scientific-community-admit-we-were-wrong-about-coivd-it-cost-lives-opinion-1776630

ARTICLE SUMMARY:
I published an opinion piece in Newsweek calling for the scientific and medical community to acknowledge mistakes made during the COVID-19 pandemic response. The article argued that public health messaging and policies had eroded trust, especially in the COVID-19 vaccine, and that an honest reckoning was needed to make public health effective again.

RECEPTION:
- Article went viral: 7.5+ million views
- Generated significant backlash on social media ("MedTwitter")

===

Date: February 1, 2023
From: Kelly Podzemny
To: Brandt Schneider
CC: Ashley Hamm, Steven Berk, Mikel Coale, Susanna Cisneros

Good morning Dr. Schneider, I wanted to give you and Dr. Beck a heads up about an MD/PhD student who is getting some backlash on Twitter about an opinion piece he had published on the Newsweek website. These people believe it is misinformation. He's been outspoken on other topics in the past, and we were told it was free speech. Dr. Beck says he may talk to legal about this again.

MY NOTE: This was the first documented institutional response to the Newsweek article. They had already determined my prior speech was "free speech." Now they were going to legal "again."

===

Date: February 1, 2023
From: Simon Williams
To: Steven Berk, Lauren Cobbs

It is obviously protected speech but also quite concerning in the way he appears to speak for the medical community. We need to discuss an appropriate response.

MY NOTE: Williams called it "obviously protected speech" - then said they needed to discuss "an appropriate response" anyway. Per recollection, Williams also expressed concern that the article was being shared in "antivax" circles.

===

Date: February 1, 2023
From: Steven Berk
To: Kelly Podzemny
CC: Ashley Hamm, Mikel Coale, Susanna Cisneros, Vadivel Ganapathy

We had problems with him on Twitter before as you remember calling various diet doctors phonies but we got into the same free speech issues that with we did admonish him. I think we should discuss with legal.

MY NOTE: Berk admitted they had "the same free speech issues" before. Now he wanted to "discuss with legal" again.

===

Date: February 1, 2023
From: Michael Blanton
To: Lauren Cobbs, Simon Williams
Subject: Student Publication COVID-19

Forwarded complaint from Kip Hopper about Newsweek article.

===

Date: February 2, 2023, 10:22 AM (Schneider) / 10:27 AM (alternate timestamp)
From: Brandt Schneider
To: Kelly Podzemny
Subject: RE: Twitter: Kevin Bass

Kelly,

Thanks for the update. We are aware of the incident. I texted with Dr. Williams about it yesterday and will circle back with him again today to determine how best to proceed. I will also follow up with Dr. Berk.

Brandt

MY NOTE: The Graduate School Dean was coordinating with the medical school. They were figuring out "how best to proceed."

===

Date: February 2, 2023, 2:50 PM
From: Simon Williams
To: Didn't record

I am not surprised that there was backlash. I think it will be best to hear what legal says we should do.

===

Date: February 15, 2023, 12:42 PM
From: Steven Berk
To: Simon Williams

Wrt Kevin Bass what does it mean to recommend @ eugenics in 2023 might meet about him at 3pm

MY NOTE: The Dean was monitoring my specific tweets and proposing same-day meetings about them. I was talking about eugenics in the same way Dr. Williams had discussed it in lectures, and in the same way discussed in the medical ethics literature.

===

Date: April 20, 2023, 8:23 AM
From: Pamela Johnson
To: Terri Lloyd
Subject: URGENT - INFO NEEDED

Can you confirm the dates of his (Kevin Bass) enrollment in the GSBS (MS and MD degrees) and provide the approximate timeframes that he conducted his research in various faculty labs (under Drs. Grisham, Reynolds, Ganapathy or others) during this time. Do you have this information?

MY NOTE: Six days before Morales forwarded the complaints, someone was urgently gathering my enrollment history and lab assignments. They were building a dossier.

===

Date: April 26, 2023, 11:16 AM
From: Felix Morales
To: Lauren Cobbs, Simon Williams, Elisabeth Conser, David Trotter, Allison Perrin
Subject: Emails About a Student Starting the 3rd Year

Good morning everyone, I wanted to forward some emails that we have been receiving about a student that is returning back to the medical school curriculum from his PhD coursework. His name is Kevin Bass. We have received emails in our admissions inbox expressing concerns about his social media posts. I didn't know what to do with them, but I wanted to share them with you all. Let me know if you have any questions.

MY NOTE: The admissions office was receiving external complaints about my speech and forwarding them to five senior administrators.

===

Date: April 26, 2023, 11:29 AM
From: David Trotter
To: Felix Morales, Lauren Cobbs, Simon Williams, Elisabeth Conser, Allison Perrin
Subject: RE: Emails About a Student Starting the 3rd Year

Thanks for sending these. If you get any more please forward them on. I will help collect some more information and get back to you to discuss how to respond.

[Response to April 26, 2023 11:16 AM email from Felix Morales forwarding emails expressing concerns about my social media posts]

MY NOTE: Five senior administrators on this email. Trotter is asking for more materials and coordinating "how to respond."

===

Date: May 22, 2023, 1:29 PM (original) / 3:51 PM (forward)
From: [Redacted]
To: Ja'Net Sneed
Date: May 22, 2023, 1:29 PM
Subject: TTUHSC on MedTwitter

Hey Ja'Net, I just wanted to send an email on behalf of some of my classmates. I am sure the school admin is following the situation on social media. But in case it is not being followed, Kevin Bass and Class of 2025 has been making controversies in the realm of MedTwitter. At first it was not really a big deal but recently he has tweeted about how easy 3rd year med school is and made controversial statements that seem to go against the school's code of conduct. In fact some residents at residency programs have been responding to the tweets and questioning the quality of medical education TTUHSC is providing to students. Unfortunately he has a following of about 84,000 people and some of my tweets have caught the attention of residency programs' faculty members. He has been in news segments, podcasts, and interviews. With Step 1 going P/F and the attention shifting to Step 2 and school prestige some people are becoming concerned that this one person is essentially putting our school under the radar in a bad way. -Joe

PART B - FORWARD TO DEAN:
From: Lauren Cobbs
To: Steven Berk, Simon Williams
Date: May 22, 2023, 3:51 PM

Need to discuss...

===

Date: May 23, 2023, 8:58 AM
From: Steven Berk
To: Simon Williams, Lauren Cobbs, Islam

At our meeting can we discuss Kevin Bass and review our guidelines on professionalism also what clerkship he is on

MY NOTE: Cobbs forwarded this student complaint directly to Dean Berk. The next morning, Berk asked "what clerkship is he on."

===

Date: May 23, 2023, 12:22 PM
From: Acevedo
To: Lauren Cobbs
Priority: IMPORTANCE: HIGH
Subject: Honor Code

Here is the signed Honor Code for Kevin Bass

MY NOTE: 3.5 hours after Berk's meeting request, the Honor Code was pulled and marked "IMPORTANCE: HIGH."

===

Date: May 23, 2023 (after 12:22 PM)
From: Lauren Cobbs
To: Steven Berk, Pomasson
Priority: IMPORTANCE: HIGH
Subject: Signed Honor Code for K. Bass

Dr. Berk - PDF version of signed Honor Code for Kevin Bass

MY NOTE: The sequence on May 23, 2023:
- 8:58 AM: Berk asks "what clerkship is he on"
- Morning: Cobbs requests Honor Code from records
- 12:22 PM: Acevedo provides Honor Code (IMPORTANCE: HIGH)
- Afternoon: Cobbs forwards Honor Code to Berk
They were assembling a disciplinary file.

===

Date: May 27, 2023
Dean Steven Berk died 4 days after placing me on the meeting agenda and receiving my Honor Code file.

===

Date: May 31, 2023
Present: Dr. Megan Brown, Dr. Noelle Zavala, Kevin Bass

MY NOTE: 8 days after Berk asked "what clerkship is he on," professionalism concerns materialized at that exact clerkship.

===

I then faced the first flood of professionalism “complaints”.

I began reaching out to lawyers:

Date: July 24, 2023
From: Kevin Bass
To: Tim Weitz, JD

There are many discrepancies and facts that do not fit or make sense, and I don't understand what is happening. …

Due process has been systematically ignored and they refuse to specify the professionalism incident(s) in my letter. That's right, I'm being censured for a professionalism incident that hasn't been specified, not even to me. …

I believe that they may be trying to build a case for my eventual dismissal.

===

Then, from August 2 to August 7, I contacted at least 10 attorneys with the same language expressing confusion about the process and the refusal to specify charges.

Standard language included in all outreach:

“I believe that the administration may be trying to build a case for my eventual dismissal. There are many discrepancies and facts that do not fit or make sense, and I don't understand what is happening. … Due process has been ignored and they refuse to specify the professionalism incident(s) in my letter, or at any other point in the process.”

===

ERWIN'S COACHING NOTES: THE PRETEXT REVEALED

Then, after two extraordinarily stressful professionalism board meetings, and despite winning the appeal on "lack of specificity," I was still required to complete "professionalism coaching" with Dr. Cheryl Erwin, for reasons nobody would explain to me.

The coaching was assigned for clinical behavior during OB/GYN - "comments to nurses," "interactions with staff." It had nothing to do with my Newsweek article. Yet, strikingly, Erwin’s notes tell a different story.

She researched COVID vaccine sources to evaluate my opinions. She acted sympathetic to my face while writing this behind my back. And the final irony: my Newsweek article was pro-vaccine. I called for acknowledging mistakes in pandemic messaging and in the response, which led to reduced trust and reduced vaccine uptake. I did not express opposition to vaccines; I was pro-vaccine. She was building a case against a position I never held.

DATE: After August 8, 2023

ERWIN'S NOTES (excerpt):

I also spoke with Dr. Cobbs about this student and the issues presented. She agreed that there are concurrent legal issues embodied in the case including the right of Kevin to say anything that he wished to say (free speech). Even if the ideas he has shared with us seem contrary to generally accepted opinion regarding the science (my source is Cochrane’s review on the efficacy of COVID vaccines), it is not a dispute that he has a right to say whatever he wishes.

However, as a matter of professionalism he does not have a right to disrupt the learning environment, he does not have a right to refuse, without consequences, the feedback he is given and fail to adopt the virtues of medical professionalism which include attitudes of compassion, adaptability, and sensitivity to the needs of others. These obligations are expected by the LCME as professional activities which we have an obligation to ensure in order to maintain our accreditation as a medical school. My focus and the main conclusive issue here is to develop insight into why he is doing this when he admits that a lot of people have 'just quit talking to him.'

MY NOTE: The professionalism coach–assigned to address supposed clinical behavior issues–explicitly tied her assessment to COVID vaccine opinions (that I didn’t hold) and invoked LCME accreditation. Her own words reveal the pretext: if this were about pre-existing behavior, people wouldn't have "just quit talking to him." Something new caused this–and she told us what it was.

===

In another note, she went even further, comparing me to Trump and saying I had absorbed "conspiracy culture":

Erwin's second note (excerpt):

"I do not feel confident I can coach this student on the SPCC issues without addressing the issues raised by the student that lie beyond the formal referral. The social media issues came up. They cannot be ignored. They raise issues of constitutional free speech, due process, and reputational harm that imply the need for additional advice from the referring source and their counsel.

Because these issues are a part of our general culture at this moment in time it is appropriate to note K will have heard in recent days: Special Counsel Jack Smith points out in the Trump indictment, 'The defendant had a right, like every American, to speak publicly about the election and even to claim, falsely... he was also entitled to formally challenge the results of...'

KB has imbibed the cultural atmosphere of conspiracy theories. This is reflected in his combative attitude towards me and everyone who is trying to help him, as well as towards the CDC response to COVID as a conspiracy. In the present he seems to be taking his First Amendment rights to make an idiot of himself"

MY NOTE: My "professionalism coach" compared me to Trump, said I had absorbed "conspiracy culture," and wrote that I was using my First Amendment rights "to make an idiot of himself." She claimed that I thought that "COVID was a conspiracy" (whatever that means). This was the person assigned to help me.

===

But to my face? A completely different story:

SEPTEMBER 7, 2023 - After I apologized for being irritable while sick:

"Thank you Kevin. And thank you for making our meeting. You were lovely. See you next time."

OCTOBER 17, 2023 - Scheduling a meeting:
"Your call, either way I just want you to feel supported."

OCTOBER 19, 2023 - When I was in distress:
"Just breathe!! You're gonna be fine. I will continue to coach you through this."

OCTOBER 19, 2023 - Same day, later:
"Do you need to talk? I'm here"

OCTOBER 29, 2023 - When I shared personal trauma with her, in order to make the point that what I was going through was the worst thing I had ever experienced:

"Kevin, I am crying as I read this. For the pain you have been through. For the joy of your survival. For the dreams and goals you still hold. I can walk alongside you and I can be your friend. I can listen to you as you find your authentic self. But I would never want to change who you are and I couldn't even if I wanted to.

I am not sure there is continued value in a coaching relationship, but I will not abandon you. You have work to do my friend, and it is the work of healing.

Your friend, Dr. Erwin"

But it doesn't stop at the medical school.

In February 2023, Berk and Williams consulted the Office of General Counsel about my "obviously protected speech." Six months later, that same Office of General Counsel recommended "immediate updates" to the Board of Regents—citing "recent litigation trends" in harassment and speech policies.

The Board approved the changes on August 10-11, 2023. They added language requiring speech to "lose legal protection" before it can justify suspension. They removed a team that had been monitoring student "expressive activities."

Then in November 2023—two weeks after my suspension—the Board required that General Counsel "certify compliance with applicable laws" before any future policy changes.

They added a legal certification requirement after they suspended me.

The same lawyers who reviewed my case recommended the policy changes. The Board of Regents—appointed by Governor Greg Abbott—approved them.

This was institutional.

This is the tip of the iceberg.

I have sent more than a dozen Texas Public Information Act (TPIA) requests–basically, FOIA for Texas–for the documents that will reveal what really happened.

Texas Tech has responded by delaying their responses to the final deadlines; by double charging me for deposits; and by forcing me into a legal battle.

More than 70 pages of legal argument have been submitted by each side to the Texas Office of the Attorney General, more than 150 pages, a book’s worth for TPIA alone. Texas Tech seeks to withhold ALL documents.

What are they hiding?

Since October, I have also engaged in a lengthy dispute with Texas Tech–through FERPA–to gain access to all of my educational records, which I am entitled to according to federal law.

Texas Tech is required to provide me with these records within 45 days.

It has been 120 days, and I still have not had the opportunity to review the documents.

How long will it take? A year? To get documents I should have had in November?

They have provided me with a single set of sessions over the course of a week to review them. Thousands of pages. They have all of these documents in PDF format. They could send me these PDFs at any time.

Instead, they keep creating more friction, requiring me to visit each time. The atmosphere is tense. To avoid any misunderstanding, I spent $3,600 for a private investigator to accompany me just to review them. Because who knows what else Texas Tech will make up about me?

This is all intentional. And it violates federal law.

Therefore, I will continue to file complaints with the Department of Education.

And over the coming weeks, I will file still more complaints with still more agencies.

And once I started filing these requests, what happened? Out of the blue–debt collection for semesters at the medical school they did not allow me to attend.

There is no low to which this university will not stoop.

Thankfully, after posting about this, these attempts seem to have stopped. For now.

They destroyed my career. They destroyed my reputation. And they want me to shut up about it.

I won’t.

I have filed two lawsuits against Texas Tech and just some of the employees involved in these acts. One in state court. The other in federal.

And that brings me to the reason I am posting this.

They have filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

And they also delayed my next FERPA review session. Again.

Curious.

To when? They have delayed the session to the final two days in which my response to the motion to dismiss is due.

My guess: they’re hoping that I don’t have the time to consolidate the insights from the next review of documents.

But who is doing that? Ah, yes.

I am posting because one of the employees at the Texas Office of the Attorney General--run by Ken Paxton--is not just representing Texas Tech but now, it appears, helping Texas Tech to obstruct justice. By moving this review to just before the response is due.

By implication, this means that the Attorney General is now spending yet more taxpayer money to cover for a university that retaliated against the First Amendment.

Retaliation. Against the First Amendment. With your taxpayer money.

But not just the First Amendment. I am a scientist. I have a PhD. When I wrote about the pandemic, I did so in good faith. And my views are the same as those of NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, FDA CBER Director Vinay Prasad, and indeed, the official position of the Trump administration itself.

Texas Tech retaliated against a legitimate scientific viewpoint–the viewpoint which I believe is undeniably correct. All because it was unpopular and out of step with the politics of the university.

All I want is to move on. But that means acknowledging what happened.

I have recently received the first ruling from the Attorney General on one of my TPIA requests. 16 pages of redactions. Huge blocks of black. Citing attorney-client privilege.

This is completely unacceptable. And insane.

Let’s square that with what happened here.

Texas Tech used their Director of Ethics to subvert ethics.

They used professionalism hearings to behave unprofessionally.

And they used their legal team to break the law.

It’s Orwellian. Texas Tech inverted morality.

And now, they are trying to use attorney-client privilege as a shield–with Texas’s Attorney General to defend them.

I am writing here to appeal to you, reader, for one thing.

Pressure.

I’m asking for the documents. Nothing fancy. I’m only asking for the truth.

This is a pressure campaign for the truth. Is that so much to ask for?

Share this. Tag Ken Paxton. Tag Lori Rice-Spearman. Tag Greg Abbott.

Ask them why their taxpayer-funded government agency is trying to conceal the truth. Why they tried to destroy one of their students’ lives and won’t let him go.

I just want to move on. I don’t want back into medicine. Because of the ideologically captured bureaucrats, medicine no longer has moral standards. I want to create something of my own–something I can believe in as I once believed in medicine.

Let me go.

I finish with this passage from the Bible:

I hate, I despise your festivals,
and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.

Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them;
and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals

I will not look upon.
Take away from me the noise of your songs;
I will not listen to the melody of your harps.
But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

Amos 5:21-24

Help me in my fight by donating here: https://www.givesendgo.com/kevinbasslegal