TEXAS “WHISTLE BLOWER” NURSE INDICTMENTS RAISE EYE BROWS.

 Things happen differently in West Texas where it can rain red mud. In Winkler County Memorial Hospital in Kermit, Texas two nurses who consider themselves as “patient advocates” have been indicted by Winker County Attorney, Mike Fostell for violation of Texas Penal Code 39.06, the misuse of official information, a third degree felony with the possible sentence of ten years.  Their crime?  They filed an anonymous complaint to the Texas State Board of Medicine concerning Dr. Rolando Arafiles, in which they assert that Dr. Arafiles improperly encouraged patients to purchase herbal remedies from him and wanted to use hospital supplies for a procedure in the home of a patient.  The nurses provided medical file numbers of six patients to the board.  The action of the nurses was in direct violation of a hospital board requirement that all physician complaints be filed with the hospital first before being reported to a state agency.

 

The County Sheriff, who is was apparently a patient of Dr. Arafiles, obtained a copy of the complaint for the Texas Board and through clever detective work (following up through the process of elimination on the age and self description of nurse Anne Mitchell) determined her identity. He confiscated her computer and found a copy of the complaint on her hard drive. Nurse Mitchell and her co-indictee, Nurse Vicki Galle were subsequently fired by the hospital. The nurses have obtained the moral and financial support of the Texas Nurses Association and the American Nurses Association. The indictment for the filing of a complaint with a state regulatory body is apparently a first even for the State of Texas.

 The facts in the indictment are very sketchy.  Several alleged nurses at the Kermit facility, have filed comments to various news and blog articles about the indictments indicating support for Dr. Arafiles and suggestions that the two nurses were “paper-puchers” (sic) and not floor nurses and that their complaints had been reviewed and rejected by the hospital and an independent outside review.  There is perhaps another side of the story which will surface, but from the known facts this indictment seems likely to flounder.  There are First Amendment questions as well as probable qualified if not absolute privileges available for the reporting of information and concerns to a public regulatory agency. There is also the peculiar legal issue of the propriety of the hospital ordering the withholding of information from the Texas Medical Board.

 There does seem to be an attitude among some nurses in West Texas and elsewhere that nurses are there to protect patients from the misdeeds of rapacious physicians, an attitude that many physicians find annoying to say the least. Certainly there are some circumstances where that is true, but as a general “raison d’etre” it does not sell well in the physicians lounge.  The underlying concern of the nurses in this case also seems to be a bit on the light side, unless there is more to the complaint than meets the eye. Regardless of the motivation of the nurses or the substance of their complaint, it seems likely that the public policy of the state will support their right to file their complaint without fear of a silly indictment from a clueless district attorney in the Panhandle.

Comments

[Anon]

Texas law mandates that nurses are patient advocates. I have been on the losing side in a nurse whistleblower case, so I can tell you that this sheriff is in huge trouble, and doctor and hospital should be prepared to pony up in a serious way.

Color me disgusted by this abuse of power.

[Disgusted Texas RN!]

I am a Texas nurse that is a member of a 40,000 plus community of travel nurses. This story has been made available to our membership. Kermit, Texas, and Winkler county, for that matter, are now on the list of places we will avoid. Small town Barney Fifes underestimate the power of the internet to expose their idiotic capers. Our membership also supports our colleagues financially, too.

[NP]

Amazingly, I just went through a very similar situation, but no one bothered to report on my case or set up a defense fund for me! I reported a doctor for major ethical violations and testified against him at the Texas Medical Board. He filed a harassment charge and a SLAPP suit against me. The harassment charge was dropped by the DA and I've filed a countersuit for retaliation, defamation and malicious prosecution (it was filed yesterday). I'm also trying to get help from the ACLU to assist me in filing a lawsuit in federal court for violation of my civil rights. Under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, I have the right to speak freely and I have the right to petition the government with a grievance. Under the rules of the Texas Board of Nursing, I was MANDATED to report the doctor for ethical violations.
I WANT JUSTICE!

[justice well]

I grew up in Kermit, Texas. My personal experience is that just about everyone in any position of power there is corrupt. The hospital files (at Winkler County Memorial Hospital) of my birth mysteriously disappeared. I also know plenty of people who have worked there over the past 40 years, and I remember MANY complaints about the way the many of the doctors and administrators treated nurses. Kermit is a scandalous place, and I only know of 3 doctors who were worthy of respect, and they are long gone. It is an "old school" place, and still treat women like it's 1950 and deserve no respect. Obviously, I am inclined to believe the nurses on this matter. The doctor lost his license in New York, so it seems that he has trouble comprehending what his responsibilities and legal obligations are. I really hope that the sherriff is held accountable for his part in this unethical catastrophe.

[Dr. Seuss]

Patient advocates! What a joke! The true story is the ridiculous nature of the complaint the nurses wanted to make. Selling vitamins or herbal supplements was this doctors offense! What a joke the power of any old person to pick up a piece of paper and try to ruin a doctors life over such petty shit is unbelievable. Lions and Tigers and Olive Oil! Oh My! When are the doctors going to stand up for themselves and stop the abuse by the Texas Medical Board and their witch doctor Stephen I hate vitamins Barrett. It is sad that the nursing organizations do a better job of sticking up for their nurses than do the doctor groups. These nurses were directed to committ a hate crime against a doctor for using vitamins by a third party that is supported by money from lobby groups--particularly Aetna, Cigna, and Big Pharma. WAKE UP! WAKE UP! WAKE UP! Doctor Arafiles I would check and see what info they sent to DR. Barrett of Quackwatch. He may need to join the nurses in this case.