Without evidence of benefit, an intervention should not be presumed to be beneficial or safe.

- Rogue Medic

Whistle-Blowing Nurse Is Acquitted in Texas

Much has been written about the fanatics criminals trying to get Anne Mitchell, RN locked up. I will only give a brief summary.

A quack – Rolando G. Arafiles Jr., who for some odd reason has not yet been stripped of his medical license, had the sheriff investigate anonymous reports to the Texas Medical Board about his abuse of patients. The sheriff arrested Nurse Mitchell and charged her with a felony that could put her in jail for 10 years and could include a $10,000 fine. The fraudulent investigation probably did contribute to her being wrongfully fired. The county prosecutor, who works for the charlatan, decided to prosecute.

All of these frauds belong in jail.

The case was investigated by Sheriff Robert L. Roberts Jr., a friend and admiring patient of Dr. Arafiles, and tried by the county attorney, Scott M. Tidwell, a political ally of the sheriff and, according to testimony, Dr. Arafiles’s personal lawyer.[1]

In case you are thinking that this is a misrepresentation of their criminal abuse of power, the jury did not have to deliberate for long.

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.[1]

Where would a good story about fraud be without a bunch of cognitive dissonance?

Sheriff Roberts said he was disappointed in the verdict but did not regret the prosecution.[1]

The next jury should arrange for these frauds to be bunkmates in a prison where they do not have any friends.

We want nurses and others to feel comfortable reporting potential problem doctors to state medical boards. The medical board should be the ones determining if the complaint is valid.

After the verdict, the nurses’ lawyers pivoted quickly to the lawsuit[2] they have filed in federal court against the county, the hospital and various officials, charging that the firings and indictments amounted to a violation of due process and their First Amendment rights.[1]

Texas, it turns out, has laws that protect whistle-blowers — but only from civil suits. Criminal prosecution is another matter entirely. After the medical board received the nurses’ anonymous complaint, its investigators gave a copy to Dr. Arafiles. That complaint alleged that he’d given patients inappropriate care, including sewing a rubber tip not intended to be attached to humans onto a patient’s crushed finger (a case that the Texas Department of State Health Services had red-flagged). Too, the complaint noted, Arafiles urged patients to buy Zrii, a questionable nutrition supplement sold via a pyramid-marketing structure.[3]

Last month Andrew Wakefield was publicly humiliated for his fraud. Let’s hope they follow that up with criminal charges.

This month another scam artist, Rolando G. Arafiles Jr., is publicly humiliated for endangering patients, as well. Likewise, let’s hope that after the civil trial, there are criminal charges filed against this witch doctor and his minions.

White Coat has written about this –

Nurse Acquitted

Respectful Insolence has written a lot about this –

Report a bad doctor to the authorities, go to jail? It might really happen for Anne Mitchell, RN in Winkler County, Texas

Dr. Rolando Arafiles: Antivaccine rhetoric topped off with colloidal silver for the flu and Morgellons disease

Report a bad doctor to the authorities, go to jail? The trial, day two

Report a bad doctor to the authorities, go to jail? The cranks weigh in

Winkler County Nurse Anne Mitchell is not guilty, not guilty, not guilty, not guilty!

Footnotes:

^ 1 Whistle-Blowing Nurse Is Acquitted in Texas
By Kevin Sack
Published: February 11, 2010
New York Times
Article

^ 2 Anne Mitchell and Vickilyn Galle, plaintiffs, vs. Winkler County Memorial Hospital; Stan Wiley, individually and in his official capacity as administrator of the Winkler County Memorial Hospital; Robert L. Roberts, Jr., individually and as Sheriff of Winkler County, Texas; Rolando G. Arafiles, Jr., individually; Scott M. Tidwell, individually and in his official capacity as County Attorney; and Mike Fostell, individually and in his official capacity as District Attorney, defendants.
US District Court for the Western District of Texas, Pecos Division.
Free Full Text PDF

^ 3 Medical emergency – In reporting a doctor’s mistakes, a West Texas nurse risked going to prison
Houston Chronicle Editorial
Feb. 11, 2010, 7:53PM
Article

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