Texas jury acquits nurse who filed anonymous complaint to state board about doctor’s practices

Texas jury acquits nurse who complained of doctor

ANDREWS, Texas — A Texas nurse who was brought up on criminal charges for filing an anonymous complaint accusing a doctor of unethical conduct was acquitted by a jury Thursday in a case that watchdog groups warned could have a chilling effect on health care workers and patients.

Prosecutors have said personal — not professional — reasons motivated nurse Anne Mitchell to file the complaint against Dr. Rolando Arafiles with the Texas Medical Board. She was indicted in June on a count of “misuse of official information” after Arafiles filed a harassment complaint with the Winkler County Sheriff’s Department.

After the jury returned its verdict, Mitchell said her complaint “had nothing to do with personal feelings,” and she would continue to report doctors if she believes they are not giving patients proper care.

“I still have to do those things for patients,” said Mitchell, who would have faced up to 10 years in prison if she had been convicted. “My duty’s never changed.”

Dozens of nurses filled the courtroom throughout this week’s trial, and many wept when the verdict was announced. Nursing associations and health care watchdogs across the country rallied around Mitchell, calling the case is a key test of physician accountability. Alex Winslow, executive director of the patient safety advocacy group Texas Watch, said Thursday’s acquittal doesn’t end the concern.

“Whether Ms. Mitchell was convicted or exonerated, was largely irrelevant to the long-term impact her prosecution will have on Texas patients,” he said in a statement. “The very fact that she was prosecuted will make individuals who have information that could save lives will think twice before speaking up, putting Texas patients at risk.”

Arafiles was not in court Thursday to hear the verdict, and a telephone message was left at the Winkler County hospital where he works. A message was also left Thursday for the prosecutor, Winkler County Attorney Scott Tidwell.

Mitchell’s complaint filed in April accused Arafiles of improperly encouraging patients to buy herbal medicines and wanting to use hospital supplies to perform a procedure at a patient’s home.

But prosecutors claimed Mitchell, who had worked with Arafiles at a West Texas hospital, didn’t like the doctor and wanted to harm him and that the complaint disclosed patient information for “a nongovernmental purpose.”

The jury deliberated for an hour before returning its verdict. Foreman Harley Tyler Sr. said the panel found Mitchell not guilty because the prosecution failed to show beyond a reasonable doubt that the nurse had done anything illegal.

“We don’t feel that what she did was wrong because she had concern for the patients,” he said. Nurses “are the eyes for the patient.”

James Willman, general counsel for the Texas Nurses Association, said the group was “extremely pleased” with the verdict.

“The nurse’s duty to their patients has been vindicated, and nurses can get back to doing what they do for patients,” he said.

The state medical board’s executive director, Mari E. Robinson, also said the board was “very relieved” and she hoped “there will be no negative impact upon people reporting potential violations of the law to the board.”

But one physicians group, the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, warned that 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.

Earlier this month, the prosecutor dropped charges against another nurse, Vicki Galle, who filed the complaint with Mitchell. Galle declined to comment this week.

Mitchell and Galle were fired in June. Mitchell works part-time for Andrews County as its emergency management coordinator and said the financial and moral support from nurses across the country helped them get through the ordeal.

“I’m just thankful to everyone,” she said. “We couldn’t have done this alone.”

The women’s attorneys have also filed a civil lawsuit in federal court against Arafiles, Winkler County and its hospital, sheriff, prosecutor. The suit alleges the nurses’ First Amendment rights were denied and that the criminal prosecution is vindictive. One of Mitchell’s attorney, Brian Carney, said “malicious prosecution” may be added to the suit now.

In September, investigators from the Department of State Health Services went to the hospital and found several medical procedure violations by Arafiles, according to their report. The investigation is ongoing.