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Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Texas Physician Pleads Guilty in Whistle-Blowing Nurses Case

By Robert Lowes
Medscape News Today

Rolando Arafiles Jr, MD, today pled guilty to criminal charges in a state court in Winkler County, Texas, for retaliating against 2 nurses who had anonymously reported him in 2009 to the Texas Medical Board (TMB) over the quality of his patient care.

Anne Mitchell, RN and Vickilyn Galle RN

The case set off a national conversation on the protection afforded healthcare whistle-blowers.

The 2 nurses, Anne Mitchell, RN, and Vickilyn Galle, RN, had worked with Dr. Arafiles at Winkler County Memorial Hospital in Kermit, Texas. Once they were identified as the whistle-blowers by a county investigation that Dr. Arafiles instigated, the nurses were charged with misuse of official information, which is a third-degree felony, and fired. The charge against Galle was dropped, and a jury last year quickly found Mitchell not guilty.

Today, the 59-year-old Dr. Arafiles pled guilty to 1 count each of misuse of official information and retaliation, which is also a third-degree felony. He was sentenced to 60 days in jail and fined $5000. A press release issued by the office of Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott stated that with today's plea, Dr. Arafiles admits to urging former Winkler County Sheriff Robert Roberts Jr and former Winkler County Attorney Scott Tidwell to strike back against the nurses.

On November 4, he signed an order with the TMB to voluntarily surrender his state medical license effective November 11. He faced the possibility of the board revoking his license on account of a felony conviction.

The entire story is here.