NYT Texas nurse faces trial and possible 10 years for reporting Dr

[lovuian]

She is 52 and reported to the Texas Physcicians Board a Doctor that was doing possible malpractice

but the Nurse is being imprisoned

Page 14 of the NYT

[w8liftinglady]

1. welcome to nursing in rural Texas-doctors do no wrong.

[Jkid]

2. Nurse gets jailed for doing her job?

Why?

[brentspeak]

3. Here is a link to the story

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/07/us/07nurses.html

Seems the physician is friends with the sheriff, who is a real power-abusing piece of work.

[lovuian]

4. thanks

Isn't it so WRONG

[leftofcool]

5. And we wonder why there is a shortage of nurses in this country

[lovuian]

6. Your right and in Texas there is going to be

a HUGE shortage if this goes on to putting her in JAIL

[BeFree]

7. Eh?

Biting the hand that feeds ya?

In this country, one should know better by now.
If we continue to treat the elites with the disrespect they deserve then what good are we?

[vegiegals]

8. "he protested to his friend, the Winkler County sheriff, that he was being harassed."

Friends are involved in the issue. seems the sheriff thinks a lot of the doc.


..............When the medical board notified Dr. Arafiles of the anonymous complaint, he protested to his friend, the Winkler County sheriff, that he was being harassed. The sheriff, an admiring patient who credits the doctor with saving him after a heart attack, obtained a search warrant to seize the two nurses’ work computers and found the letter.

Both sides acknowledge that the case has polarized the community, and the judge has moved the trial to a neighboring county.

The state and national nurses associations have called the prosecution an outrage and raised $40,000 for the defense. Legal experts argue that in a civil context, Mrs. Mitchell would seem to be protected by Texas whistle-blower laws.

“To me, this is completely over the top,” said Louis A. Clark, president of the Government Accountability Project, a group that promotes the defense of whistle-blowers. “It seems really, really unique.”

Until they were fired without explanation on June 1, Mrs. Mitchell and Mrs. Galle had worked a combined 47 years at Winkler County Memorial Hospital here, most recently as its compliance and quality improvement officers.

[w8liftinglady]

9. the doctor and sheriff were partners in the herbal supplement business

[Beaverhausen]

11. is that true? The NYT story doesn't say that

if so, these nurses should immediately be reinstated and the doctor and sheriff run out of town.

[w8liftinglady]

14. here's one blog post on it...i'll look for others

http://majikthise.typepad.com/majikthise_/2009/10/nurse-whistleblowers-face-jail-time-for-reporting-quack-to-medical-board.html

October 16, 2009
Nurse whistleblowers face jail time for reporting quack to medical board
Dr. Dave Gorski reports on a stunning miscarriage of justice: Two nurses face possible jail time because they filed an anonymous complaint against a doctor who was peddling natural remedies out of the ER of their small rural hospital in Kermit, TX.

The quack turned out to be a vindictive quack. When the Texas Medical Board informed Dr. Rolando Arafiles, Jr. that he was under investigation, he lodged a complaint of criminal harassment with the Winkler County Sheriff, who worked tirelessly to unmask the anonymous tipsters:

To find out who made the anonymous complaint, the sheriff left no stone unturned. He interviewed all of the patients whose medical record case numbers were listed in the report and asked the hospital to identify who would have had access to the patient records in question.

At some point, the sheriff obtained a copy of the anonymous complaint and used the description of a "female over 50" to narrow the potential complainants to the two nurses. He then got a search warrant to seize their work computers and found a copy of the letter to the medical board on one of them.

This is a a caliber of detective work scarcely seen outside of TV cop shows, especially for non-violent, non-crimes like complaining to a medical board. How did Dr. Arafiles get such vigorous policing from the Winkler County Sheriff's Department? Dave wonders if Dr. Arafiles and Sheriff Robert Roberts, Jr. are buddies. I think I found the answer. According to a lawsuit filed by the nurses, Arafiles and Roberts were--wait for it--associates in the herbal supplement business!

In theory, the Texas Medical Board allows anonymous tips, but privacy protections are so weak that the sheriff was able to figure out who blew the whistle.

The nurses, Anne Mitchell and Vickilyn Galle, were charged with improper use of official information, i.e., the state alleges that they improperly divulged confidential patient information in their complaint to the medical board. In fact, complaints to the medical board are HIPAA-exempt, which means that the nurses didn't have to get patient permission to share medical information with the board.

Dr. Arafiles was familiar with the workings of the Texas Medical Board, having already been disciplined in 2007. That time, the board fined him $1000 for failing to properly supervise a nurse practitioner and ordered him to educate himself on ethics, medical records and the treatment of obesity.

The Texas Nurses' Association has set up a legal defense fund for the Kermit Two, which you can support by clicking here. Dave is encouraging his readers to write polite letters to the Wikler County District Attorney's Office protesting the charges

[w8liftinglady]

16. more links-and,yes..I am a nurse in TX...this sucks

I remember having charts and instruments thrown by doctors,and nurses having to rise and give their chair to docs.There is a definite neanderthal slant..esp in west tx
http://junkfoodscience.blogspot.com/2009/09/who-will-speak-out-for-you.html

[lovuian]

13. I wouldn't doubt is

:kick:

[OHdem10]

10. This is the price for whistle-blowing. This happens in all types of

jobs and professions.

[demosincebirth]

12. Need a union?

[Manifestor_of_Light]

15. The doctors do not discipline their members. That's a factor they don't consider.

Doctors commit malpractice, injure and kill people, the state board does nothng to discipline them. They just move to another state and keep practicing.

I once told a psychiatrist that the doctors' state boards do not discipline and regulate them, and this psychiatrist got VERY upset with me. But it's true. I used to work at the courthouse and have taken down thousands of personal injury trials. The insurance companies are gouging the doctors for their premiums.

[demosincebirth]

19. Thats the usual atmosphere in hospitals and work places in States,

where they have Right-to-work laws, such as all the southern states.

[w8liftinglady]

17. there is a LOT of hostility towards unions-many veiled threats by administration

[demosincebirth]

18. thats a common thing among big business...threats and intimidation against

employees that, even, mention that they might Need a union. they ought to contact a local union and find out what their rights are about organizing. What the employer can an cannot do according to federal and state law. Well, being in Texas, you probably won't get much help from the state, but Federal law is very explicit and very helpful in organizing. Bottom line, is what are they willing to risk for better wages and working conditions?