LAW: CASES : UNITED STATES: STATES: TEXAS : LAW ENFORCEMENT : WHISTLEBLOWING : MEDICAL: MALPRACTICE: Two Texas County Officials Indicted In Whistleblower Nurse Case
David P. Dillard
.
LAW: CASES :
UNITED STATES: STATES: TEXAS :
LAW ENFORCEMENT :
WHISTLEBLOWING :
MEDICAL: MALPRACTICE:
Two Texas County Officials Indicted In Whistleblower Nurse Case
Two Texas County Officials Indicted In Whistleblower Nurse Case
Two Texas county officials have been indicted on charges stemming from the
prosecution of two nurses who blew the whistle on a doctor.
KWTX Television
http://www.kwtx.com/news/headlines/Two_Texas_County_Officials_
Indicted_In_Whistleblower_Nurse_Case_113631489.html?ref=489
A shorter URL for the above link:
KERMIT (January 14, 2011)--Winkler County Sheriff Robert Roberts and
County Attorney Scott Tidwell were each indicted Thursday on two counts of
misuse of official information, two counts of retaliation and two counts
of official oppression, stemming from the prosecution of two nurses who
blew the whistle on a local doctor.
2 Texas county officials indicted in nursing case
2011
The Associated Press
Jan. 14, 2011, 6:47PM
The Houston Chronicle
http://news.google.com/news/story?pz=1&cf=all&ned=
us&hl=en&ncl=deF1fbp34rowUxMGpyXnrxOzlb_mM
A shorter URL for the above link:
KERMIT, Texas Two West Texas county officials involved in the
unsuccessful prosecution of two whistle-blowing nurses have been indicted
on charges that accuse them of retaliation.
Winkler County Sheriff Robert Roberts and County Attorney Scott Tidwell
were each indicted by a grand jury Thursday on two counts of misuse of
official information, two counts of retaliation and two counts of official
oppression. Misuse of official information and retaliation are
third-degree felonies, punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
The charges stem from the prosecution of Anne Mitchell and Vickilyn Galle.
Both were fired from Winkler County Memorial Hospital and later charged
with misuse of information after they complained anonymously to state
regulators about the medical procedures of Dr. Rolando Arafiles.
The indictments allege that Roberts and Tidwell obtained the non-public
complaints filed with the Texas Medical Board through deception and
subjected the nurses to retaliation and unlawful arrest and detention.
Mitchell was acquitted after a jury trial last February brought national
attention to the case. The charges against Galle were dropped
From Medscape Medical News
Local Officials Charged in Texas Whistleblower Case
Robert Lowes
Authors and Disclosures
Medscape
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/735819
The 2 nurses in question, Anne Mitchell, RN, and Vickilyn Galle, RN, were
former coworkers of Dr. Arafiles at Winkler County Memorial Hospital in
Kermit, Texas. In 2009, they wrote an anonymous letter to the Texas
Medical Board about his allegedly subpar medical practices. Flushed out by
a county investigation, the nurses were charged with misuse of official
information a third-degree felony and fired from their hospital jobs.
The charge against Galle was dropped, and a jury last year found Mitchell
not guilty in less than an hour a verdict that made national headlines.
Yesterday's indictment represents the latest legal repercussion against
Dr. Arafiles and others involved in the nurses' criminal case and job
termination.
snip
According to the Texas attorney general's office, the grand injury
indictment, and other court records, once Dr. Arafiles discovered he was
the subject of an anonymous complaint to the state medical board, he gave
Roberts information about the patients referenced in the complaint. Armed
with that knowledge, Roberts then obtained the complaint "through
deception" from the state medical board in his ultimately successful
effort to determine who wrote it. Roberts then disclosed what he learned
to Tidwell, who asked a grand jury to indict the nurses and later
prosecuted the case against Mitchell.
Stan Wiley, the former administrator of Winkler County Memorial Hospital
who had fired the nurses, was indicted on 2 counts of retaliation. The
grand jury also indicted Dr. Arafiles with 2 counts each of misuse of
official information and retaliation the same charges leading to his
arrest in December.
Third-degree felonies in Texas are punishable by up to 10 years in prison
and up to a $10,000 fine.
Sheriff Charged in Texas Whistle-Blowing Case
By KEVIN SACK
Published: January 14, 2011
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/15/us/15nurses.html
The charges issued by the grand jury on Thursday stem from Dr. Arafiless
approach to Sheriff Roberts after the doctor learned the medical board was
investigating him. The sheriff, who was a patient and friend of the
doctor, opened an investigation and, according to the indictment, used
deceptive means to obtain the anonymous letter from the medical board.
The letter included details that implicated the nurses. Mr. Wiley fired
the two women, who had a combined 47 years at the hospital, and Mr.
Tidwell handled their prosecution.
The nurses sued the county and settled last year for a shared $750,000.
The complete articles may be read at the URLs provided for each.
WEBBIB1011
Sincerely,
David Dillard
Temple University
(215) 204 - 4584
jw...@temple.edu
http://daviddillard.businesscard2.com
Net-Gold
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/net-gold
http://listserv.temple.edu/archives/net-gold.html
Index: http://tinyurl.com/myxb4w
http://groups.google.com/group/net-gold?hl=en
General Internet & Print Resources
http://guides.temple.edu/general-internet
COUNTRIES
http://guides.temple.edu/general-country-info
EMPLOYMENT
http://guides.temple.edu/EMPLOYMENT
TOURISM
http://guides.temple.edu/tourism
DISABILITIES
http://guides.temple.edu/DISABILITIES
INDOOR GARDENING
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/IndoorGardeningUrban/
Educator-Gold
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Educator-Gold/
K12ADMINLIFE
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/K12AdminLIFE/
The Russell Conwell Learning Center Research Guide:
THE COLLEGE LEARNING CENTER
http://tinyurl.com/yae7w79
Nina Dillard's Photographs on Net-Gold
http://tinyurl.com/36qd2o
and also http://gallery.me.com/neemers1
http://www.flickr.com/photos/neemers/
Twitter: davidpdillard
Bushell, R. & Sheldon, P. (eds),
Wellness and Tourism: Mind, Body, Spirit,
Place, New York: Cognizant Communication Books.
Wellness Tourism: Bibliographic and Webliographic Essay
David P. Dillard
http://tinyurl.com/p63whl
http://tinyurl.com/ou53aw
INDOOR GARDENING
Improve Your Chances for Indoor Gardening Success
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/IndoorGardeningUrban/
http://groups.google.com/group/indoor-gardening-and-urban-gardening
SPORT-MED
https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/sport-med.html
http://groups.google.com/group/sport-med
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sports-med/
http://listserv.temple.edu/archives/sport-med.html
HEALTH DIET FITNESS RECREATION SPORTS TOURISM
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/healthrecsport/
http://groups.google.com/group/healthrecsport
http://healthrecsport.jiglu.com/
http://listserv.temple.edu/archives/health-recreation-sports-tourism.html
Please Ignore All Links to JIGLU
in search results for Net-Gold and related lists.
The Net-Gold relationship with JIGLU has
been terminated by JIGLU and these are dead links.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Net-Gold/message/30664
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/healthrecsport/message/145
.