What Goes Around Comes Around: Texas Physician Pleads Guilty
This is the end to a long drawn out saga. Many of you have read my previous articles that Anne Mitchel, R.N. and Vicki Galle, R.N. filed an anonymous complaint with the Texas Medical Board, complaining of a pattern of substandard care provided by a certain medical doctor, Dr. Rolando Arafilies. Both nurses were in performance improvement positions at Winkler County Memorial Hospital in a rural Texas county. When Vicki and Anne reported the doctor to the Texas Medical Board, the letter was not signed due to fear of retaliation. Specifically they wrote, “I am hesitant to place a signature on this information. Administration has made it clear that there will be no reporting of any problems with out any administrative, medical staff, and Board notification. This would certainly create an opportunity for [the administrator] to remove me from my employment. At the appropriate time I will speak with an investigator, should the Medical Board determine that an investigation is warranted”.
Dr. Arafilies then sought assistance from a local sheriff, Robert Roberts, to identify the nurses. The Sheriff was able to identify the nurses as they had sent the letter to the Texas Licensing Board from the hospital computer. After receiving a complaint of harassment from the physician, the Winklers County Sheriff‘s Department initiated an investigation that resulted in criminal charges against both nurses that carried potential penalties of ten (10) years imprisonment and a fine of ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00).
After a four (4) day jury trial, Mitchell was found not guilty and the charges against Galle were dropped. Both nurses were terminated from their positions and filed a civil suit against the hospital for retaliatory discharge. This case has resolved successfully for Anne and Vicki. However, the physician did not fare so well. His medical license was suspended by the Texas Medical Licensing Board. In addition, he recently pled guilty to charges of retaliation and misuse of official information. He will spend two (2) months in the Andrews County Jail and five (5) years on probation. He will have to pay a Five thousand dollar ($5,000.00) fine and relinquish his medical license.
Dr. Arafilies was accused of selling supplements out of the clinic where he worked. He performed surgeries in unsterile rooms. He also provided bizarre and potentially life threatening treatments to patients for conditions that they did not have. Both Robert Roberts the County Sheriff and Scott Tidwell, the county attorney, were also tried and convicted on counts of conspiracy to find, fire, arrest, and indict the nurses Mitchell and Galle.
It is unfortunate that nurses who take a stand for good care in their community, were fired from their jobs and required to defend criminal charges against them. However, justice did prevail and the physician who they reported ultimately lost his license and now will serve jail time. It would be easy for me to say , “take a stand against poor care”, but given what happened to these two nurses, it is certainly concerning. Only you can live with your conscious and know that you did the right thing if you suspect bad care.
