by brettb on February 12, 2010
I’m a San Francisco Injury Attorney. And here in the San Francisco Bay Area, as in most places across the country, you would think that a nurse who blows the whistle on a doctor, by alerting the state medical board that the doctor is practicing unsafe medicine, would be thanked. 
Or if not thanked, how about congratulated on having the courage to come forward for the safety of the community. Okay, if not either one of those than how about protected by some whistle blower statute right. Wrong.
If that nurse was in West Texas she might be fired and then prosecuted for a criminal felony by the local county attorney who is the personal lawyer of the doctor. This is no joke and the nurse is Anne Mitchell. She had been a nurse at Winkler County Memorial Hospital for 25 years. She was prosecuted for misuse of official information – a third degree felony that included a possible prison sentence of 10 years and a fine of potentially $10,000.
The case had the potential of shutting down any and all reporting of medical malpractice – not that there is much in the way of malpractice litigation left since the state capped non-economic damages. But fortunately, the good folks on the jury thought better of Mrs. Mitchell and acquitted her on their first vote. As reported by the New York Times, the foreman for the jury stated that they really couldn’t understand why Mrs. Mitchell was ever even prosecuted. The jury simply saw no wrong doing.
But maybe this will help explain things: according to the Times, Mrs. Mitchell was investigated and arrested by Sheriff Robert L. Roberts Jr., a friend and patient of the good doctor that Mrs. Mitchell blew the whistle on, Dr. Rolando G. Arafiles Jr. And she was prosecuted by county attorney Scott M. Tibwell, who according to trial testimony was Dr. Arafiles’ personal attorney. Yep, that sort of explains things doesn’t it.
And of course, as would only be par on this course, Mrs. Mitchell, along with a coworker that helped her report on the doctor’s practices, was fired last June just prior to her indictment.
Mrs. Mitchell is now suing the county in federal court.
by brettb on February 8, 2010
A battle between the the White House and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce over workplace injury reporting makes clear the goals of the Chamber: the Chamber of Commerce does not want the public to know just how many musculoskeletal workplace injuries there are each year or for the government to do anything about those injuries.
As reported by the online news magazine Politico, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that nearly a third of the 1.1 million workplace injuries in 2008 were musculoskeletal (MSD) in nature – like carpal tunnel syndrome, strains, sprains, spinal disk herniations, and problems caused by repetitive movements and stress.
But this is only an estimate because musculoskeletal workplace injuries are recorded the same way and in the same column as any other workplace injury. The changes proposed by OSHA would create an additional column for musculoskeletal workplace injuries on the forms that employers fill out when someone has a work-related injury or illness. And this would mean better reporting of these injuries. Better reporting means that the government and the public wouldn’t have to estimate the number of these injuries because they would know.
But if we all knew just how many musculoskeletal workplace injuries there were, then it would be pretty hard to oppose the ergonomic safety rules that workplace safety advocates and Democrats have been trying to get in place since Bill Clinton’s administration.
And here lies the heart of the matter: the Chamber views new ergonomic rules as potentially costing business millions. But this view is short sighted. Musculoskeletal workplace injuries already cost business and the economy, which means the public, millions and millions in lost productivity and medical care, not to mention what these injuries do to the individuals and their families.
The changes in reporting and ergonomic rules proposed by OSHA and the White House have been fought by the Chamber for nearly a decade. When Republicans controlled Congress the Chamber was successful at using legislative maneuvers to put off the changes and new rules. However, with Democrats now controlling both houses and the White House it is not likely that the Chamber and business groups will be as successful.
