No one should be allowed to intimidate nurses who report serious wrongdoings they observe. When a nurse goes public about improper medical treatment — a doctor who sewed “part of the rubber tip from suture kit scissors to a patient’s torn, broken thumb” and used olive oil on the abscess of a patient with MRSA — she shouldn’t be fired.
But that’s what happened to nurses Vickilyn Galle and Anne Mitchell earlier this year. Not only were they fired. They were prosecuted for making the accusations in the first place – an alarming development for advocates of whistle-blower protections.
Doctor charged with retaliation
Justice has been slow in coming, but has finally arrived. The doctor in question, Rolando G. Arafiles, has been arrested (and released on his own recognizance, sans passport). The punishment for his medical behavior will be up to the Texas Medical Board. Meanwhile, the Texas Attorney General’s office has charged him with two felonies in connection with his attempt to silence the nurses.
At the time of the original incident, Arafiles went to his friend – the county sheriff – and arranged to have the nurses’ computers searched. (The nurses had complained anonymously, and the complaint letter was indeed found on one of the seized computers). Mitchell and Galle were charged with misuse of official information and fired. Now it’s Dr. Arafiles who’s charged with misuse of official information and retaliation. (And the sheriff said he expects to be arrested next week.)
Arafiles’ original complaint against the nurses resulted in a trial last summer in the west Texas town of Kermit (population 7,000). Charges against Galle were dropped. Mitchell was acquitted by a jury in less than an hour. Each nurse received a financial settlement of $375,000.
According to one report, Dr. Arafiles continues to work at Winkler County Memorial Hospital. I have not been able to find any information on the employment status of the two nurses.
A hospital board member commented on the incident: “What it’s done is made people not trust the hospital.”
Related links:
Whistle blowing: Nurse Anne Mitchell vs. Dr. Arafiles
Justice triumphs for whistle-blowing Texas nurse
Where were the melamine whistle blowers?
Resources:
Image: ABC News
Robert Lowes, Physician in Texas Whistleblower Case Faces Criminal Charges, Medscape Today, December 22, 2010
Robert Lowes, Physician in Whistle-Blower Case Charged by Texas Medical Board, Medscape Today, July 15, 2010
Kevin Sack, Doctor Arrested in Whistle-Blowing Case, The New York Times, December 23, 2010
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