Macon woman indicted in Houston mammogram case
WARNER ROBINS — A Macon woman was indicted by a Houston County grand jury Tuesday on 10 felony counts of computer forgery and 10 counts of misdemeanor reckless conduct, prosecutors say.
The indictment against Rachael Michelle Rapraeger, 30, was announced at a news conference at the District Attorney’s Office at the Houston County Courthouse in Perry following an investigation by Perry police.
In all, Rapraeger is accused of entering negative results for 1,289 mammograms at Perry Hospital that were not read by a radiologist from Jan. 22, 2009, to April 1, 2010, said Chief Assistant District Attorney Jason Ashford.
Of the 1,289, 10 of the mammograms entered as negative were actually positive, Ashford said.
Ashford declined to say whether the positive results were indicative of breast cancer, or whether the results were positive for other breast abnormalities.
At this time, Rapraeger is believed to have acted alone and without the knowledge of any radiologist or other physician, Ashford said. However, Perry police Chief George Potter noted that the investigation remains open, and Ashford noted that should any others be found to be involved, those people could face possible indictment.
Rapraeger could not be reached for comment. She is expected to turn herself in Wednesday and a bond hearing is expected to be set at a later date, Ashford said.
Victor Moldovan, an Atlanta attorney representing Houston Healthcare, previously said the discovery of an anomaly April 2 resulted in a radiation technician coming forward April 5 confessing that she signed off on mammograms as if she were the radiologist. The woman, now identified in the indictment as Rapraeger, was sent home that afternoon and dismissed April 6, he said.
The Perry police investigation was initiated in April to determine whether any criminal activity occurred, with the findings then turned over to the district attorney’s office for review, police said.
Perry Hospital is operated by Houston Healthcare.
In addition to Houston County prosecutors and Perry police officers, Mike Gray, corporate counsel for Houston Healthcare, attended the news conference.
He declined to comment, referring comment to Moldovan. Moldovan’s office released a news release late Tuesday afternoon from Cary Martin, interim president and chief executive officer for Houston Healthcare.
“Perry Hospital has completed its own internal review of the radiology department and also concluded that Ms. Rapraeger acted alone,” Martin said in the news release. “Perry Hospital supports the district attorney’s decision to proceed with a criminal indictment.”
The news release referred to Rapraeger as a “former radiology tech.”
Martin noted in the news release that steps have been taken to locate and notify each of 1,289 patients.
“We at Perry Hospital and Houston Healthcare sincerely regret the actions of Ms. Rapraeger and the consequences such actions have brought by her unauthorized and inexplicable acts,” Martin said in the news release. “However, due to patient confidentiality and the ongoing criminal investigation, we cannot publicly address specific patients.”
Patients who may have concerns related to the mammogram issue may call (478) 975-6500, according to the news release.
To contact writer Becky Purser, call 256-9559.
This story was originally published September 8, 2010 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Macon woman indicted in Houston mammogram case."