Women’s Integrated Healthcare, said she could not comment on the attor- ney general’s case against the physi- cians. However, one of the physicians, Barbara Coulter-Smith, DO, told Texas Medicine in November that she and her colleagues acquired the Canadian IUDs to offer more affordable birth control to uninsured patients and those with high insurance deductibles. She said the FDA- approved version of the IUD purchased in the United States can cost up to three times more than the unapproved version purchased through Bayer’s Canadian distributors.
The Grapevine clinic physicians’
agreement with the attorney general calls for them to pay $271,605.15 in civil penalties, attorneys’ fees, and DSHS investigative costs. They agreed not to purchase or sell unapproved or mis- branded drugs or devices. The clinic doesn’t admit to any vio-
lations of the DTPA or the Texas Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. The clinic stipu- lates in the agreement that it purchased some of the Mirena IUDs from a Cana- dian pharmacy and that the devices were manufactured for use in countries other than the United States.
of four felony counts, to be served con- currently, and pay a $6,000 fine on four felony and two misdemeanor counts. Mr. Roberts will be removed from office and surrender his peace officer’s license. In January, Sheriff Roberts was in- dicted on two counts each of misuse of official information, retaliation, and of- ficial oppression. Dr. Arafiles and County Attorney Scott Tidwell were also indict- ed on similar charges. Last March, former hospital adminis- trator Stan Wiley pleaded guilty to re- lated charges after he acknowledged im- properly terminating the nurses’ employ- ment after they filed formal complaints against Dr. Arafiles with the Texas Medi- cal Board (TMB).
Under the terms of his guilty plea, Mr.
Wiley was sentenced to 30 days in the county jail. According to prosecutors with the
Winkler County sheriff guilty of official oppression, retaliation
In June, a Midland County jury found Winkler County Sheriff Robert Roberts guilty of misuse of official information, retaliation, and official oppression. The guilty verdict stems from the sheriff’s at- tempt to retaliate against two nurses in Kermit who filed anonymous complaints against Rolando Arafiles Jr., MD, a phy- sician who worked with both victims at Winkler County Memorial Hospital. In an agreement reached at the close of the trial’s punishment phase, Mr. Rob- erts was sentenced to four years felony probation on two counts each of misuse of official information and retaliation. He will serve 100 days in jail on each
Texas attorney general’s office, the sher- iff improperly used his position as the county’s chief law enforcement official to help his friend, Dr. Arafiles, retaliate against the nurses for complaining to TMB about his professional conduct. Un- der Texas law, complaints filed against physicians with TMB are confidential. However, after Dr. Arafiles received no- tice of the complaints filed against him, Sheriff Roberts requested copies of the confidential complaints, which included the complainants’ names. During the trial, Assistant Attorney General David Glickler told jurors that Sheriff Roberts improperly shared the confidential complaints with Dr. Arafiles and the hospital administrator. Subse- quently, the sheriff executed a search warrant to obtain information stored on the nurses’ computers and confirm that the nurses were the source of the confi- dential complaints.
In June 2009, the nurses were fired
in retaliation for complaining to TMB about Dr. Arafiles’ conduct. Ten days lat- er, Mr. Tidwell’s office sought the nurses’ indictment, and the Winkler County Sheriff’s Department arrested the nurses for alleged criminal conduct they did not commit. A jury later acquitted one of the nurs- es, while charges against the other nurse were dropped by the prosecution.
August 2011 TEXAS MEDICINE 53
Dr. Arafiles and Mr. Tidwell are still awaiting trial on retaliation and misuse of official information charges.
TMB resumes death registration fines
On June 1, the Texas Medical Board (TMB) resumed disciplining physicians who do not use the Texas Electronic Reg- istrar (TER) Death Registration system to register patient deaths, TMB Execu- tive Director Mari Robinson, JD, told the TMA Patient-Physician Advocacy Com- mittee at TexMed 2011 in May. The fine is $500. Last November, TMB refunded money
to more than 100 physicians who had al- ready been fined and suspended pending cases because of physicians’ complaints about the registration system. TMB said the delay in disciplining physicians would last until the 2011 regular session of the Texas Legislature ended. If you haven’t registered and aren’t using the system, now is a good time to do so. Here’s what TMB said in the Janu- ary TMB Bulletin: “It’s important to note that electronic death certification is here to stay. The health department adopted this system because it is faster for all parties involved, and it’s less susceptible to fraud than paper.” To register to use the TER system, visit
www.dshs.state.tx.us/vs/edeath. n
Crystal Conde is associate editor of Texas Medicine. You can reach her by telephone at (800) 880-1300, ext. 1385, or (512) 370-1385; by fax at (512) 370-1629; or by email at
crystal.conde@
texmed.org.
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