An unqualified doctor with a foreign medical degree performs a failed skin graft in the emergency department of a small hospital in rural Texas, without surgical privileges. He improperly sutures a rubber tip to a patient’s crushed finger “for protection.” He e-mails patients about herbal supplements that he peddles on the side. The doctor has a documented history of violation of professional standards of care:
The hospital administrator, Stan Wiley, said in an interview that Dr. Arafiles had been reprimanded on several occasions for improprieties in writing prescriptions and performing surgery and had agreed to make changes. Mr. Wiley, who said it was difficult to recruit physicians to remote West Texas, said he knew when he hired Dr. Arafiles that he had a restriction on his license stemming from his supervision of a weight-loss clinic.
Two nurses who serve as compliance and quality control officers for the hospital, with a combined 47 years experience at the hospital, become increasingly frustrated as administrators fail to act on their concerns. They report the doctor to the Texas Medical Board, in an anonymous letter referencing specific violations by case number. They are fired by the hospital, without explanation. And charged with a felony.
Arrested, indicted, fingerprinted, and photographed at the jail, they face charges of “misuse of official information,” a third degree felony punishable by up to ten years in prison and a $10,000.00 fine.
The local sheriff, Robert L. Roberts, Jr., filed the charges after his friend, Dr. Arafiles, complained of harassment.
The prosecutor [Scott M. Tidwell] said he would show that Mrs. Mitchell had a history of making “inflammatory” statements about Dr. Rolando G. Arafiles Jr. and intended to damage his reputation when she reported him last April to the Texas Medical Board, which licenses and disciplines doctors.
State health regulators disagreed:
In a surprise inspection last September, state investigators found several violations by Dr. Arafiles and concluded that the hospital had discriminated against the nurses by firing them for “reporting in good faith.”
Mari E. Robinson, executive director of the Texas Medical Board, has warned in a blistering letter to prosecutors that the case will have “a significant chilling effect” on the reporting of malpractice.
Charges against one of the nurses were dropped last week. Another nurse, Anne Mitchell, faces trial in a neighboring county tomorrow, February 8th.
This case is disturbing on so many levels. Nurses, like other professionals, are required to report misconduct. These particular nurses were responsible for compliance and quality control, crucial to the health and well-being of patients and to the administration of the hospital. If hospital administrators had acted on the nurses’ complaints, the patients and the hospital would be protected. Instead, authorities not only ignored the complaints, but fired the nurses, then filed criminal charges against the nurses. This was a naked act of retribution, a glimpse into the ugly workings of the good old boy patronage system, a wildly unsuccessful attempt to silence legitimate criticism, and a blatant misuse of the criminal justice system.
While he is preparing for his show trial, this overzealous small town prosecutor, Scott M. Tidwell, may wish to take the time to research the fate of former prosecutor and former attorney Mike Nifong.
Filed under: Dr. Rolando Arafiles, Health Care, Malicious prosecution, Malpractice, Medicine, Nursing, Robert L. Roberts Jr., Scott M. Tidwell, Stan Wiley | Tagged: Dr. Rolando Arafiles, Health Care, Malicious prosecution, Malpractice, Medicine, Nursing, Robert L. Roberts Jr., Scott M. Tidwell, Stan Wiley | 11 Comments »























