Whistle-blowing, is it worth it? Is it protected?

Texas Nurse Acquitted: Only the Beginning

Posted on February 12, 2010 by Great Blue

Late yesterday, a jury acquitted a Texas registered nurseof a felony charge of “misuse of information” for reporting an unqualified doctor who practiced unsafe medicine. The nurse, who served as compliance officer for a small rural hospital, was abruptly terminated from her job of twenty-five years after she sent in an anonymous complaint to the Texas Medical Board about the unsafe practices of Dr. Rolando G. Arafiles.

Although Dr. Arafiles had a prior disciplinary record and a restricted license to practice medicine, hospital administrators failed to heed the warnings of Ms. Mitchell and other nurse professionals about Dr. Arafiles’ poor standard of care.

The jury took just one vote to unanimously acquit the nurse:

The jury foreman said the panel of six men and six women voted unanimously on the first ballot, and questioned why Mrs. Mitchell had ever been arrested.

“We just didn’t see the wrongdoing of sending the file numbers in, since she’s a nurse,” said the foreman, Harley D. Tyler, a high school custodian.

Sheriff Robert L. Roberts, Jr., who instigated the prosecution, was unrepentant:

The defense had to spin this as a reporting issue, that nurses were not going to be able to report bad medical care, and it’s never been that,” he said. “We encourage people to report bad medical care. But I encourage public servants to report it properly.

Sheriff Roberts did not explain what was “improper” about a nurse reporting a bad doctor to the state medical board, which investigates such complaints, particularly after the hospital had failed to act to protect patients.

Speaking of “improper,” it turns out that Sheriff Roberts was a personal friend and admiring patient of Dr. Arafiles, whom he credited with saving his life after a heart attack. The Sheriff was also allegedly involved in the doctor’s side business peddling herbal remedies. And the prosecuting attorney, Scott M. Tidwell, was a political ally of the sheriff and, according to testimony, Dr. Arafiles’ personal lawyer.

It’s good to know that, even in Texas, free speech rocks. However, serious questions remain.

Two ethical, professional nurses with a combined 47 years of experience at the hospital lost their jobs and their livelihoods for doing the right thing. A sheriff abused the authority of his office. A prosecuting attorney with blatant conflicts of interest conducted a patently malicious prosecution. A magistrate and judge inexplicably found probable cause where none existed, and failed to exercise their sworn responsibility to dismiss this groundless case before it ever reached a jury.

A small rural hospital needs a thorough investigation and top-to-bottom house-cleaning. Not to mention that an unqualified doctor is still out there, practicing bad medicine, and endangering innocent patients.

It would be tempting to say that justice has been done. In reality, however, justice hasn’t even begun.

from http://vagreatblueheron.wordpress.com/2010/02/12/texas-nurse-acquitted-only-the-beginning/