Whistle blowing: Nurse Anne Mitchell vs. Dr. Arafiles

Source: TriCity Herald

It takes courage to blow the whistle on a fellow employee. The workplace is a social community. When we stand up and accuse someone of wrongdoing, we alienate ourselves from that community. The whistle blower, of course, also faces very concrete fears: job and income loss, the threat of retaliatory prosecution, and the expense of defending oneself against such retaliation.

In a recent case in Texas, a nurse, Anne Mitchell, was prosecuted after she submitted a complaint about the unethical conduct of a doctor at her hospital. The doctor claimed that Ms. Mitchell and a fellow nurse, Vickilyn Galle, were harassing him. The nurses’ complaint was submitted anonymously, but authorities searched Ms. Mitchell’s computer and found a copy of the letter. The two nurses, who had worked at the hospital for a total of 47 years, were fired last June and faced up to ten years in prison. The New York Times quotes Ms. Galle:

“It has derailed our careers, and we’re probably not going to be able to get them back on track again. … We’re just in disbelief that you could be arrested for doing something you had been told your whole career was an obligation.”

The nurse’s Code of Ethics includes the duty to advocate for the health and safety of patients.
Prior to the nurses’ written complaint, the doctor had been reprimanded by the hospital administration for “improprieties.” Ms. Mitchell said she was motivated to inform the Texas Medical Board when the hospital took no action against the doctor:

“The medical staff needed to make a decision on him,” she said. “You don’t get a second chance to save somebody’s life.”

(For more details on this story, see the articles from before and after the trial in the New York Times, plus local reporting from Andrews, Texas.)

Doctors respond “Accountability for false complaints is overdue”

Charges were dropped against Ms. Galle, and Ms. Mitchell’s four-day trial ended in her acquittal after one hour of jury deliberation. Nurses were relieved that Ms. Mitchell was found not guilty, but the case has raised concerns in the medical community. The TriCity Herald reports:

Dozens of nurses filled the courtroom throughout this week’s trial, and many wept when the verdict was announced. Nursing associations and health care watchdogs across the country rallied around Mitchell, calling the case is a key test of physician accountability. Alex Winslow, executive director of the patient safety advocacy group Texas Watch, said Thursday’s acquittal doesn’t end the concern.
“Whether Ms. Mitchell was convicted or exonerated, was largely irrelevant to the long-term impact her prosecution will have on Texas patients,” he said in a statement. “The very fact that she was prosecuted will make individuals who have information that could save lives will [sic] think twice before speaking up, putting Texas patients at risk.”
The state medical board’s executive director, Mari E. Robinson, also said the board was “very relieved” and she hoped “there will be no negative impact upon people reporting potential violations of the law to the board.”
But one physicians group, the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, warned that anonymously disparaging a doctor and possibly depriving him of a livelihood “on the basis of false, bad-faith allegations” needs to stop.

According to Dr. Jane Orient, the executive director of the Association, “Accountability for false complaints is long overdue.” Sounds a bit like doctors know best and nurses should be seen and not heard.

UPDATE (4/22/10): The Winkler County Memorial Hospital has been fined for firing the two nurses. Here’s a legal blog that is tracking and updating the story: Law Med Blog. Here’s the story: $15,850 Fine Assessed at Kermit Hospital for Multiple Violations

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