Monday, January 9, 2012
Law and Order State Reps Escape Prosecution for Pressuring Nursing Board to Help Friends
Posted by Jeff Woods on Mon, Jan 9, 2012 at 11:29 AM
Republicans never seemed too worried about the investigation into whether Shipley's and Ford's hardball tactics amounted to official misconduct. In the middle of it, House leaders thumbed their noses at investigators by naming Shipley the chairman of a special joint committee overseeing health-related boards. Shipley, who seems badly in need of anger management therapy, claimed to be the victim of some kind of political witch hunt.
In deciding not to bring charges today, Davidson County DA Torry Johnson said Shipley's and Ford's actions were "questionable but not criminal." Words to live by! From Johnson's statement:
“The Board of Nursing is responsible for protecting the public from the dangers of unfit, incompetent, or unprofessional nurses. In this case, the Board did precisely that, only to be subjected to heavy-handed tactics by two state legislators, aided and abetted by some former employees of the Department of Health. Regrettably, both the Board and the Department of Health caved to perceived political pressure and set aside the previous discipline that all parties had agreed to. This is not how government is supposed to work, but it is not a crime since these lawmakers did not personally benefit from their actions nor did they individually have the actual power to harm the Board, the Department, or its employees. In the end, this is a case of political hardball, but not political corruption.”
Comments (6)
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A shameful episode.
Boards like this one are a prime example of citizen government at its best, the kind of operation the GOP claims to favor and support. The people on these Boards are not "professional politicians." They get paid either nothing or perhaps mileage to and from the meetings. They derive no personal benefit from service, and in fact they quite often lose money by virtue of taking time away from their usual jobs. They put in lots of hours reviewing applications, papers and documents--most of which are very routine. And then, in the case of this Board and scores of others like it, they have to take on the thankless but absolutely necessary job of sitting through a formal hearing, listening to and reviewing evidence, and taking disciplinary actions. This work protects the average consumer against incompetence, dishonesty, neglect, deliberate harm, criminal activity or malpractice by nurses, pharmacists, builders, doctors, plumbers, or any number of other professions and trades who operate with licenses in Tennessee.
And, sure, you can get plenty of people begging to get appointed to the UT Board of Trustees, or the Board of Regents, or the Parole Board or the Arts Commission or something like that. But there is no presteige or perks or "plum" to being on the Nursing Board, or the Contractors Board, or Elevator Board, or the Car Salesman Board, or the Boiler Board, or the Drycleaners Board or a whole lot of other small boards like that. This is basically volunteer work, and the people who are willing to do it are doing it out of a sense of public service.
So what happens when the Nurses Board members try and do the right thing and take action against some nurses who, quite clearly, deserved to be disciplined? What happened when they tried to do their jobs in good conscience? To be responsible? To do the right thing?
They got sandbagged by a couple of yahoo nimrods in the General Assmbly, who threaten to totally do away with the Board rather then let them take justifiable action against someone that happens to go to church with them. What a couple of disgraceful, disgusting, unethical jerks they are. They are unworthy to hold public office. But it appears there will be no consequence to their misdeed.
I hope this Board and others will, in the future, resist this kind of unethical political interference in their duties. There is no excuse for it.
like
dislikeIf Your Republican Then Anything You Do Is OK!
How Shameful!!
TBI Probe: Were Legislators Just Doing Their Job or Using Strong-Arm Tactics?
http://blogs.knoxnews.com/humphrey/2011/07…
"...The Times-News also quotes a TBI spokeswoman as saying the TBI raided the office of Appalachian Medical Center (which employed the nurses) in 2007, with investigators calling it a "pill mill" that contributed to 47 patient deaths in two years. No charges have been filed. That investigation continues."
TBI Probe: Were Legislators Just Doing Their Job or Using Strong-Arm Tactics?
http://blogs.knoxnews.com/humphrey/2011/07…
"...And this background from the AP's story:
When the board suspended the licenses, it found that the three nurse practitioners failed to properly order diagnostic tests for patients before prescribing painkillers, continued to prescribe pain medication to patients identified by law enforcement as illegally selling the drugs and prescribed controlled substances to each other, according to minutes of the meeting. Two patients died of drug overdoses, the TBI said.
The board decided in May to restore the nurses' licenses after hearing petitions claiming that the board had not heard certain details about the deceased patients.
For instance, the nurses contended one patient had been crushing medications and injecting them via either an IV line or needle, and that the same patient had consumed 15 times the prescribed amount of oxycodone in a three-hour time frame, according to documents from the state health department.
As for the investigation, Helm said no state lawmakers have been interviewed and that the TBI has only been speaking with department of health officials. She declined to offer any names of lawmakers involved in the investigation, and said none of the nurses have been charged."
The Federal Bureau of Investigation should be looking into not only how the Tennessee Board of Nursing reversed its official position with the three nurse friends of Reps. Anthony Shipley and Dale Ford, but to also investigate and reveal just how times during this same time period did the Tennessee Board of Nursing overturn its own adverse rulings against licensed Tennessee nurses not associated with Reps. Shipley and Ford...
I suspect that number will be very, very low.
Shipley's argument that his nurses did not receive "due process" also seems questionable as these individuals were never denied access to the courts.
Rep. Shipley Targeting Tennessee Bureau of Investigation "Next Session": 2012
Shipley on TBI probe into Health Department case: The story should be 'legislator does job'
By Kacie Breeding
http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=90…
Published July 19th, 2011 1:40 pm
Tennessee Health Department officials and some state legislators — including Tony Shipley, R-Kingsport — are being investigated for possible misconduct and false reporting by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
TBI spokeswoman Kristin Helm said the agency launched an investigation June 22. It's exploring whether, "members of the Tennessee General Assembly and/or employees of the state department of health" committed criminal infractions during a process that led to the recent reversal of disciplinary action against three registered nurses accused of substandard care and contributing to two patient deaths while employed at the now-defunct Appalachian Medical Center, 3010 Bristol Highway, Johnson City.
Registered nurses Bobby Reynolds II, David Stout Jr. and Tina Killebrew were exonerated and their licenses restored in May. At that time Shipley identified himself to the Times-News as the, "rascal behind the scenes that made it happen."
On Tuesday, in reference to the TBI probe, Shipley said, "The story should be 'legislator does job,' you know, as opposed to suggesting that there was anything inappropriate."
Shipley said he is scheduled to meet with a TBI investigator next week. He said the investigator contacted him by text or e-mail on Monday and said, "'I want to talk to you about Appalachian Medical.' I said, 'I don’t know any more about it than what you all put in your reports.' He said, 'I need to reach out to you.' There was no questioning. He said, 'I want to come see you.' At that time I had no idea what was going on."
...
The health department issued a prepared statement saying it is, "cooperating fully with the inquiry by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations. We are providing information and responding to requests as needed to assist in this matter. It is inappropriate for the department to offer further comment at this time."
Meanwhile, according to Helm, an investigation launched into Appalachian Medical Center employees in 2005 is still open, but the case file has been turned over to Tony Clark, District Attorney General of the 1st Judicial District sometime since May. Helm said they are awaiting further instruction from Clark, who could tell them to close the case, present it to a grand jury, or seek additional information.
In May, Helm confirmed the TBI raided the office in 2007, with investigators calling it a “pill mill” that contributed to 47 patient deaths in two years. No charges have been filed.
Back in May, Shipley had said he would "be around to see TBI next session," upon learning that Appalachian Medical Center's former employees were still under investigation.
