Nurse Whistle-Blower Not Guilty for Reporting Doctor

[kpete]

Source: ABC News


Nurse Whistle-Blower Not Guilty for Reporting Doctor
Texas Nurse Fired After Sheriff Seizes Computer and Finds Letter of Complaint
By SUSAN DONALDSON JAMES, STEVE OSUNAMI AND MICHAEL MURRAY
Feb. 11, 2010



A Texas jury has found veteran nurse Anne Mitchell not guilty of harassment after she wrote a confidential letter to the Texas Medical Board complaining about a doctor she believed practiced shoddy medicine.

Her lawyer, John Cook, announced the verdict today on the fourth day of the trial in Andrew, Texas.

Mitchell, 52, could have faced 10 years in prison for doing what she believed was her obligation under the law -- to report unsafe medical practices.

The verdict could have had a profound effect on whistle-blowers in Texas and nationwide. People are certainly talking. Phil Parks told ABC News, "I think that nurses must be on the side of patients. They spend more time with patients than doctors do."

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/WN/nurse-whistleblower-acquitted-harassing-doctor-claims-practiced-unsafe/story?id=9781119

[renegade000]

1. good news n/t

[vegiegals]

2. Yes, but she has gone through months and months of

horror.

[movonne]

47. There is really, really something bad going on in this country..alternative

universe...good is bad, bad is good..and this also goes for what we call some of the religions in this country..killing is good, war is good,torture o.k., being self centered and not giving a whit about other other people or their culture's...and on an on..

[valerief]

68. Slavery-conditioning is how I see the climate. nt

[vegiegals]

81. you are right. This case fits in with the broader wrong-doings/mentality

of so many in this world. Not just our country.

[surrealAmerican]

61. You're right, of course, but the next ...

... time this happens, the nurse who makes the report won't be charged because of this ruling.

[DesertDiamond]

3. I cannot believe she was ever even charged with this as a crime!! Horrendous!

She should have been given an award for speaking up! Buddhism calls the era we now live in The Age of Mappo, or Age of Confusion, when everything is upside down and backwards and makes no sense at all. And this is certainly proof that we are in Mappo.

The good news is that it is also predicted that this will be the time that people will wake up and defeat the three poisons of greed, anger and foolishness, in themselves, and as a result in their environment. When enough of us have done this, things like the travesty of someone being threatened with prison time just for speaking up about the safety of others, this kind of thing won't happen anymore. I'm so looking forward to that time!

[Zoeisright]

21. Yes, that charge was disgusting. I've run across many bad doctors.

One didn't take the catheter out when my grandfather had hip surgery. The nurses finally warned us about it, but it was too late - he developed an infection that turned into bacterial pneumonia. His partners covered it up.

And my husband had severe abdominal pains when he was 25, and went to the doctor thinking he had appendicitis. He didn't - the idiot doctor tested him for everything from lactose intolerance to a fucking tapeworm. Until those dumbshits realized he had testicular cancer that had spread to a huge tumor in his abdomen. This went on for SIX MONTHS, while he lost 70 pounds.

I really distrust most doctors. They cover up for each other rather than do what's right.

[earcandle]

71. That is what happened to my mother. They left the catheter in and she died of bacterial pneumoni

bacterial pneumonia..But no one framed it that way. 

[wolfgangmo]

88. sorry to hear about all of that.

Not all Doctors are like that. The ones at my clinic are some of the most giving and honorable people I have ever worked with.

[Name removed]

34. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[NV Whino]

4. Yay!

What a relief.

[sakabatou]

42. +1

[no_hypocrisy]

5. She was awarded her attorneys fees, right?

[Warpy]

8. If she wasn't, there is going to be a hell of a civil suit

to recover them from the quack doctor and his corrupt sheriff sidekick.

I don't think their herbal snake oil business will survive.

[WriteDown]

12. Leading to more attorney fees...

It's a heck of a cycle.

[ShockediSay]

22. Forget atty fees; look for suit based on abuse of process,

false arrest &c; this Dr needs to be put out of business & forfeit his wealth, accumulated at his patients' lives/well being

[aquart]

58. I so completely agree.

Acquittal isn't the beginning of enough.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

78. Could RICO apply?

A conspiracy between the prosecutor, the sheriff and the doctor?

[vegiegals]

80. One of her complaints is that the doc was prescribing alternative

herbals. Nothing wrong with that, but he owned the herbals (some kind of business arrangement). It was not like he prescribed the herbal and the patient went to the store/walmart/pharmacy.

[wryter2000]

86. Good point

He definitely needs to get slapped for suing her for doing what was 100% the right thing. :hi:

[mbperrin]

54. This was a heck of a cycle. The prosecutor in the case was originally from

Odessa, my town, but he got caught about five years ago in a sex scandal involving a local "massage parlor" called the Healing Touch. He was also running a prostitute at a local hotel. He was found guilty of at least a couple of misdemeanors and relocated 30 miles west of here, where he is now the county attorney.

This, BTW, is the same town where the prosecutors have never found the time to try a couple of administrators at the Texas Youth Council facility there accused of dozens of counts of sexual abuse of the boys incarcerated there. The Texas Ranger investigation ended with recommendations and evidence to prosecute. That's been several years ago, and the state finally stepped in this year to try the cases here in Odessa, away from the little cesspool of good old boys over there.

I think this is what they used to call "colorful", but the truth is, it's a great way for petty criminals to back each other up and to terrorize locals who don't like it.

I was thrilled to see the jury come back and quickly acquit.

[WriteDown]

55. Wow!

Very Boss Hog-like.

[LiberalFighter]

28. The sheriff needs to be run out of town.

[wroberts189]

30. There is ..she is going to sue them all ..doc,sheriff,hospital,town

Its at the end of the video at link.

[24601]

9. You don't get awarded attorney's fees in criminal law. For the

state to pay your attorney, one has to be appointed by the court because you can't afford one.

[WriteDown]

11. Yes, that was part of tort reform...

Oh, wait, that never happened.

[24601]

48. Wouldn't matter anyway. Criminal Courts don't hear Torts. That's

only in Civil Court.

Criminal Court Texas vs. Smith, or United States vs. Jones (and many others)

Civil Court Smith vs. Jones

[WriteDown]

53. Good point.

Man, that really sucks. If you're proven innocent then you should not have to pay court costs and attorney fees.

[24601]

57. Agree, but with limits. You go get an OJ dream team at taxpayer

expense and soon there's no money for anything else.

I believe I'd favor a model with a strong Public Defender's office with personnel & budget matching the DA. And I'd add procedures making the police responsive to tasking equally from both sides.

[Moosepoop]

13. She and the other nurse have a civil lawsuit underway

against all the bad actors in this incident. This vindication should help with that litigation. They're asking for attorneys' fees plus all other compensation to which they're entitled. I hope they win BIG!! $40,000 in legal fees was raised by various nurses' associations, and I don't know if the fees went beyond that or not, or how that works in a civil suit. But they're also asking for back pay, forward pay, punitive damages, etc., and I hope they get them! A strong message needs to be sent.

Get this -- in July of 2009, the prosecutor sent a letter demanding that the nurses accept their firing and agree not to file any civil lawsuits (or drop any that may have already been filed) against anyone involved if they wanted their felony cases dropped! :wow:

I'm glad they didn't give in to that! Now it's time to turn the tables.

[midnight]

18. Glad to hear it... And again, I'm on the nurses side on this one.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

36. Prosecutor using duress to compel them to drop suits....

This should be good.....Prosecutor should be disbarred for that kind of crap.

[xxqqqzme]

49. sounds like the prosecutor get stuck

to that slime ball as it rolled through.

[msanthrope]

23. No--she's got to sue for that---but it looks good--these are dream defendants---

1) Quack anti-vaxer doctor who likes to sell colloidol silver to combat flu....

2) Sheriff who was in business with quack selling herbal supplements--white grape juice--at $40 bucks a bottle.

3) DA who hired prostitutes through his firm where he is still a named partner. Said firm does malpractice/insurance defense....


No. I'm not kidding about ANY of the above.

[WriteDown]

25. Does the doc post here?

"Quack anti-vaxer doctor who likes to sell colloidol silver to combat flu"

I wouldn't be surprised.

[msanthrope]

29. He just might--let's start an autism thread and find out. n/t

[WriteDown]

31. Hahaha...

You gave me my first good belly laugh in a while.

[MARALE]

85. He is a conservative

Donated to Ron Paul last election cycle and the RNC before that!

[WriteDown]

87. Proving that anti-vaxers cross all parties, ethnicities, and genders. nt

[wolfgangmo]

89. Could you strip your well reasoned argument of ancillary terms?

While you might be correct there doesn't seem to be any evidence to support the terms quack or anti-vaxer, both of which are pejoratives for medical professionals who may or may not be good at their professions. Is there even evidence that he used silver or that his supplement was grape juice.

What I am opposed to here is blanket statement, painting all doctors who may be open to alternative treatments (and more importantly know when and how to refer treatments up status to acute should the need arise) in with this man who was not acting in any way conversant with licensing laws, scope of practice, or good judgement.

I run a medical practice where our docs are trained in the appropriate use of nutrition as part of our general and family practice. We do this because we want to make sure that the advice people get, people who otherwise would just go and get information that is not backed up by research or best practices from the internet, is good sound medically defensible advice. Please stop painting all of us in with the wackos. I can assure you I like it as much as you like Rush Limbaugh.

[tavalon]

77. Don't worry, both of these nurses will get large judgments

in their civil lawsuits with the hospital and the doctor. But, especially from the hospital.

[happyslug]

84. No, This was a CRIMINAL Procedure

In theory the Jury could have awarded her damages, but that options was NEVER presented to them AND would have been attacked by the Prosecution if it had. The jury would have had to make an award on its own, and see what the Judge did with it (The Judge probably would have dismissed the award as NOT proper under the law since this is a criminal procedure).

[WhiteTara]

6. wow sanity still holds sway with jurors!

This is great news.

[dave29]

7. I have a "situation" being investigated by the TMB -- this makes me feel a lot better.

:)

[Lone_Star_Dem]

10. Yes! K&R

[pleah]

14. K&R But, I wonder if she will have to move from there since the

sheriff is obviously going to have a grudge against her.

[AnneD]

65. She and the other Nurse involved....

live in New Mexico. It is not that uncommon in that area for Nurses to live in New Mexico with it's lower cost of living and work in Texas-a higher pay rate. Hospitals compress your time and either comp you a hotel or motel room or give you a gas or car allowance. But I encountered a lot of questionable things while I was there. The good Docs worked just long enough so their loans would be forgiven and the bad ones hid out. The only docs I trusted were the one that had roots in the area and wanted to be there. One doc that we had a bad knick name for because of the number of folks that die post op literally left town in the middle of the night-closed his practice and left no forwarding address. People deserve better and unless you come from a large area with good medical care-you don't always know better.

All the Nurses here in Texas have been following this case closely. We have a safe harbor provision but we are hoping to get a whistle blower act passed this next session of the legislature. We almost had it this last time. Nurses are quietly active in this state. We had made in roads since I began practicing in the early 90's.

[pleah]

66. Good to know.

Thanks.

I had a great aunt that worked in Chicago back when they still wore the starched white uniforms. :)

[clixtox]

73. A sincere thank you to the active nurses in Texas fighting for justice! N/T

[chasmj]

15. People trust nurses more than doctors

for good reason:

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-us-texas-nurse-acquitted,0,1220344.story

The state medical board's executive director, Mari E. Robinson, has said her agency is a governmental one and a complaint filed by a nurse against a doctor she didn't like does not necessary mean it was filed in bad faith. "There is no requirement that you have to like someone to file a complaint against someone," she said. "No one complains to this board because they think someone is doing a good job. They file a complaint because they think someone is doing a bad job."

The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, said anonymously disparaging a doctor and possibly depriving him of a livelihood "on the basis of false, bad-faith allegations" needs to stop. "Accountability for false complaints is long overdue," said Dr. Jane Orient, the association's executive director said in a statement.

[SoapBox]

16. ...of course it would be in Texas

Un-fracking-beliveable.

HE said he was the victim? And that sheriff's department? Doc Creep and the fuzz
should be run out of the state.

Wow...just leaves me shaking my head. THANK GOODNESS she was found not guilty.

[CurtEastPoint]

17. Does she have any legal recourse for their having ruined her career?

At least some bucks??

[Tempest]

19. She can sue for malicious prosecution

From the article:

The verdict could have had a profound effect on whistle-blowers in Texas and nationwide. Mitchell had asssumed the letter she wrote to Dr. Rolando Arafiles Jr. was anonymous. Instead, he fired her after reporting her to the local sheriff -- a former patient and admirer of the doctor -- for maliciously ruining his reputation.

Police in Kermit, Texas, searched Mitchell's computer and found the letter, then charged her with "misuse of official information" in her role at Winkler Memorial Hospital, a third-degree felony in Texas under an abuse-of-power statute.


Sounds like she would have a good case.

[msanthrope]

24. I think she's got a hell of a case--n/t

[Manifestor_of_Light]

37. Yes and she can sue them for slander per se.

Destroying her reputation at her profession, as a nurse, is slander per se.

[kimmylavin]

20. Great news.

What a ridiculous situation.
That sheriff ought to be fired - real justice doesn't come from throwing your weight around.

And I hope those nurses are able to recover from this, personally and financially.

[pundaint]

75. Sheriffs are usually voted in to office. A lot of these voters should be fired.

[kimmylavin]

90. Ah, I gotcha.

I WISH we could fire voters!
(Well, not really. Its a two-edged sword, huh? Maybe we could just, I don't know - educate them?)

[Duppers]

26. finally, some good news.

nt

[Jefferson23]

27. Fabulous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ozymanithrax]

32. She also was forced to hire a lawyer, I assume a personal expense.

Things like this can cripple people, economically. And, if she needs to look for work, every place she looks will know. They don't have to tell her that she was nor hired because she made trouble for a doctor.

Whistle-blowing should be anonymous, and should not be illegal.

[AnneD]

69. Many Nurses' around Texas....

chipped in and started a defense fund for her. I am sure a whistler blower bill will be entered again this next session and has a better than average chance of passing. Nurses here are very active.

[GreenEyedLefty]

33. Thanks go to the jury. Reason prevails.

[joeybee12]

35. Excellent, excellent news! n/t

[eagertolearn]

38. We have to feel safe to protect the patients. My husband had to do this once

and it was hard on him (the bad doctor threatened him too). He refused to do surgery with someone because he felt this person put his patients at risk and others got mad at him for messing up the schedule! It ended up being a good thing because they were able to get rid of this doctor. There are too many things in the way of getting rid of bad doctors.

[Hekate]

39. I hope this just verdict brings this horrendous case to a close--and that the nurses get damages

... awarded to them.

Hekate

[Shining Jack]

40. Yes !

:bounce:

[eppur_se_muova]

41. Sanity can still prevail, even in Texas. nt

[Poll_Blind]

43. Good for her, good for the jury, good for Texas and, in some way, a little...

...bit of good for us all.

PB

[frylock]

44. i hope she turns around and sues his balls to the wall..

fucking quack.

[No Elephants]

45. I have been in hospitals many times. Docs cut and prescribe and bless 'em for both, but nurses heal

[HuckleB]

46. Thank GOODNESS!

[TexasObserver]

50. Thank God. This was a horrible prosecution.

[Delphinus]

51. Excellent news!

I'm so glad it was resolved in this way.

[katandmoon]

52. K&R for Anne Mitchell.

[Canuckistanian]

56. Good. But it shouldn't have gotten even this far

Look, either you HAVE whistleblower protections or you DON'T.

This nurse was acting responibly. She reported properly and to a government agency. It's astounding that she was ever indicted on these bogus charges.

[laughingliberal]

59. Hear hear for Nurses! nt

[AngryAmish]

60. Nifong was ruined - I hope they ruin all of these guys

Sheriff, doc and prosecutor.

[inna]

62. She could've gone to prison for 10 years for doing the right thing??

It's just mind blowing, I have a hard time believing this!

[ChairmanAgnostic]

82. Hey, it's Texas. nuff said.

[sonias]

63. Congratulations to Anne Mitchell!

Very brave woman who stood up and did the right thing. And for once, the good whistle-blower was not punished and was in fact found courageous.

:applause::applause::applause:

Sonia

[bandit599]

64. She definitely has guts

She did the right thing.

[eilen]

79. She not only did the right thing, she did her job which is to advocate for her

patients. She is not allowed to tell the Dr.'s patients that he is a quack (alienation of the Dr/Patient relationship) but it is within her, and any other citizen's rights to report him to the medical board. She should not have been prosecuted period. What a farce. That Dr, the hospital administration. as well as the DA and Sheriff should be charged with suborning and intimidating other professionals to unsafe practices within the hospital to the detriment of the patients-- it is coercion. Nurses have been browbeaten enough by asshole egotistical administrators and doctors, they don't need the goddamn law breathing down their necks for standing up for their patients. I wonder how many patient deaths and other poor outcomes were blamed on their nursing care? In no other field is it acceptable to hand write directions that can have possibility to cause great harm to a critically ill human being, yet doctors do every day, write illegible orders. Our hospital is having a huge pushback from these professionals who are appalled they may have to enter their own orders into the computer system.

This story makes me ill.

Good for the nurse! It's about time that justice is served.

[nightrain]

67. knr. This is extremely good news. She did the right thing, and it's

horrendous that she had to pay for it this way.

[Quantess]

70. Justice prevails.

[HuckleB]

72. Kick and Rec!

[snot]

74. i hope someone tells her how much support she has out here.

[tavalon]

76. I've written an anonymous letter to that medical board

Looking back, I'm actually glad I declined to give my name. As a nurse, that is part of my official duty.

One the plus side for these nurses, they will get a hefty settlement from Winkler Hospital. The hospital doesn't know that yet but they will pay a very high judgment for their complete lack of judgment.

[Soylent Brice]

83. good. i hope that asshole loses his whole practice too. n/t