Utah Med Law

There is a despicable thing going on in Winkler Texas.  An experienced long-time nurse thought she was doing the right thing when she reported a doctor in rural Texas for what she thought was unprofessional and dangerous practice.  She did it confidentially and she did it correctly by reporting to the Texas Medical Board that licenses and disciplines doctors.  Now she is on trial for "misuse of official information" and facing jail time.  I have blogged previously about this case. 

Nurse Mitchell is 52, the wife of an oil field mechanic and mother of a teenage son.  She thought she was doing the right thing.  Not only did she think she was doing the right thing but she was upholding a long-time professional obligation that came as part of her nursing heritage.  Nurses are defined in many ways and in different ways depending upon the circumstance but one unchanging definition is that nurses are advocates for their patients.

In this cynical world doctors are oftentimes as being too concerned with the almighty buck.  It is the rub of their profession that they are well paid for what they do.  It is because they are well paid we have high expectations.  We expect doctors to be above it all somehow.  Doctors are supposed to care about patients and the money comes as almost a secondary gain.  That can hardly be the expectation when your doctor solicits his patients to purchase $40 per bottle herbal remedies as appears to be the case here - at least in part. 

This case is a travesty of justice and rings of small town politics and shenanigans between a local doctor and a sheriff conspiring to retaliate against a nurse for doing the right thing.  To convict Mrs. Mitchell, the prosecution must prove that she used her position to disseminate confidential information for a “nongovernmental purpose” with intent to harm Dr. Arafiles. 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.This case is also starting to get wide-spread coverage in The New York Times.

The bigger question here is do we really want to chill nurses from reporting bad doctors or bad medical facilities.  Even if Nurse Mitchell was acting vengefully do we want other nurses to forgo reporting for fear of loosing their job, retaliation and possible criminal prosecution?  I for one hope not!

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed