i though i read he was to bew sentenced this month, well so far i cant find any new news, the pain relief web site has not been updated. it was this case that my friend's docs says he will quit over if he gets a long prison sentence

Here is the latest info on him.

Libby


The Case Of Dr. Hurwitz


Judge denies bail for Va. doctor

Mar 24, 2005 ALEXANDRIA --A prominent Northern Virginia doctor convicted of fueling a black market in potent prescriptions drugs will remain in jail pending his formal sentencing and an expected appeal of his convictions.

U.S. District Judge Leonard D. Wexler yesterday refused to grant bail to Dr. William E. Hurwitz, who in December was convicted of 50 charges stemming from a three-year federal investigation into the illegal distribution of medications -- primarily OxyContin, a widely abused and highly addictive painkiller. The investigation resulted in convictions on drug-trafficking charges, authorities said.

Wexler, who had allowed Hurwitz to remain free on $2 million bond during his trial, said the 59-year-old Harvard graduate now represents a substantial flight risk because he faces a minimum prison term of 20 years.

"For this defendant, given his age, I find this is a risk of flight. No bail," Wexler said.

Wexler also refused to grant Hurwitz a new trial. April 14 was set for a sentencing hearing during which prosecutors will seek a life prison term. Defense lawyers have said they will appeal the convictions.

Hurwitz, who graduated from the Stanford University medical school and holds a law degree from George Mason University, earned a reputation as an unconventional doctor who advocated massive doses of potent drugs to help patients combat chronic pain. He once was profiled on the CBS News show "60 Minutes."

But he closed his practice in McLean in 2002 once he became the focus of federal investigators, the latest in a string of disputes with regulators. He earlier had been disciplined by medical boards in Virginia and the District of Columbia for improperly treating pain patients.

During his trial, Hurwitz testified that he prescribed massive amounts of painkillers to some patients but insisted he always did so for sound medical reasons. He has denounced his prosecution as a "political trial" by federal agencies that are targeting doctors instead of drug dealers and abusers.

His supporters -- about 30 of whom attended yesterday's hearing and cried out "bye, Billy" as he was led from the courtroom -- describe him as a compassionate doctor who helped hundreds of patients ease unrelenting pain. He is a former Peace Corps volunteer and once worked for the federal Veterans' Administration.

But prosecutors, while acknowledging that Hurwitz helped many legitimate patients, said he also recklessly prescribed thousands of pills to known drug abusers.

"The government proved the defendant was a pill-mill," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark D. Lytle. "He prescribed outrageous amounts of drugs to drug addicts."

thanks so much! this is not good for my friend, i havent read everything on this doc, but my friends doc is really upset about it. he claims he and all his partners are quitting and going back to just surgery anesteia because of this guy. i gathered from his tone that he felt the doc had been railroaded, but i dunno, anyway its enough to scare anybody so i guess i cant blame a doc for steering clear of this practice. here in dallas a local doctor named Maynard was busted and a report said how bad it was for his chronic pain patients. they cant go to any other doc cause what doc would write the same scripts that got Maynard in all this trouble, this was a good point, those poor people are SOL

Here's some more.....


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/26/opinion/26sat3.html?ex=1112504400&en=a968cad482a1f511&ei=5070



EDITORIAL OBSERVER
Weighing the Difference Between Treating Pain and Dealing Drugs
By TINA ROSENBERG

Published: March 26, 2005


READERS' OPINIONS



Federal prosecutors in Virginia want Dr. William Hurwitz, recently convicted on 50 counts of distributing narcotics, to go to prison for life without parole when he is sentenced in mid-April.

For the 50 million or so Americans who suffer from chronic pain, the fate of Dr. Hurwitz should be of some interest. He is a prominent doctor committed to aggressive treatment of pain. His behavior in some cases was inexcusable. Patients for whom he freely provided large prescriptions should, at the very minimum, have been given more close supervision. But malpractice should be cause for loss of license.

Instead, Dr. Hurwitz has been prosecuted as a drug kingpin because some patients sold their pills, although prosecutors never claimed he made a penny from it. That sends a chilling message to doctors who treat people with extreme pain.

Dr. Hurwitz's case involved prescriptions for opioids like OxyContin or Vicodin. Abuse of those drugs can be a lethal problem, but the new consensus among pain doctors is that very high doses are appropriate in some chronic pain cases. The Drug Enforcement Administration apparently disagrees. The Hurwitz case shows that increasingly it is the D.E.A., not doctors, that decides what is appropriate therapy.

Last August the D.E.A. published policies to guide doctors in treating pain. The document said the amount or duration of pain medicine prescribed was a physician's decision and would not by itself spark a criminal investigation. Dr. Hurwitz's lawyers filed to introduce it as evidence. Mysteriously, it suddenly disappeared from the D.E.A. Web site. The agency then announced it contained "misstatements." In November, the agency published new guidelines that said doctors who prescribe high dosages of opioids for long stretches are subject to investigation.

Pain is already undertreated in America. Although pain experts estimate that perhaps one in 10 people who suffer from chronic pain could benefit from opioids, the vast majority will never find this out. Many doctors won't prescribe opioids, especially in high doses. Opioids are safe and nonaddictive if used correctly, but addictive and deadly if crushed and injected or snorted, which defeats their time-release mechanism.

Abuse of narcotics like OxyContin is a serious problem and has devastated many communities. But a huge amount of OxyContin on the street is stolen from pharmacies - 1.5 million tablets from 2001 to 2003, according to the D.E.A.

Diversion of prescriptions may account for only a small part of the abuse, but it has brought a sadly disproportionate response from authorities. For example, Richard Paey, who has used a wheelchair since a car accident in 1985 and also developed multiple sclerosis, is serving a 25-year prison sentence in Florida for fraudulently obtaining prescriptions for Percocet even though prosecutors acknowledged he consumed all the pills himself.

Dozens of doctors have been charged with drug trafficking because the D.E.A. felt they were prescribing too many pills. The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons warns doctors to think twice before treating pain. "Discuss the risks with your family," it says.

One California doctor who prescribed opioids, Frank Fisher, was charged with five counts of murder - including that of a patient who died as a passenger in a car accident. All charges were dropped. A doctor in Florida, James Graves, is serving 63 years for four counts of manslaughter involving overdoses by people who either abused their prescriptions or mixed their prescribed medicines with other drugs.

Dr. Hurwitz, a crusader for aggressive pain treatment, had a controversial practice. More than 90 percent of his patients were genuine, and many say he was the only doctor who quieted their chronic pain. But his willingness to treat patients other doctors shunned, including drug addicts, also attracted scammers. It is legal to prescribe to addicts who are in pain, and many respected pain doctors believe that in some cases, addiction is caused by untreated pain and ends when the pain is controlled.

Dr. Hurwitz, who was disciplined by medical boards several times, testified that he did dismiss 17 patients he concluded were abusing their prescriptions and was tapering down the dosage for others. But he also said he felt that cutting off patients was tantamount to torture, and he did not do so without strong evidence of bad behavior.

Many of Dr. Hurwitz's colleagues believe that he was far too slow to accept such evidence and that he should not have been practicing medicine. But while he was blind to his patients' deceptions, there has never been any evidence that he was part of their conspiracy. In the prosecutors' post-trial motions, they argue that the conviction should stand even if Dr. Hurwitz believed he was prescribing for a legitimate medical purpose.

His prosecution seems inexplicable except as a signal to other doctors that they can go to prison for life for being duped by their patients. That signal is being heard - the exodus from aggressive treatment of pain is increasing. This might marginally reduce the amount of opioids on the street, but in the process it will sentence hundreds of thousands of people to suffer needlessly.

I think this wrapped up in Aug. (2006)...but I was interested in his fate, and looked it up:

Federal Drug Conviction of Dr. William Hurwitz Overturned


The 4th Circuit Rules That Good Faith IS Relevant to Whether or Not Dr. Hurwitz is Guilty of Violating Federal Drug Laws



August 22, 2006 - This morning, a stunning defeat was handed to the United States Government as the notoriously "tough on crime" 4th Circuit overturned the Federal drug conviction of Dr. William Hurwitz and remanded the case to the lower court for a new trial.

Siobhan Reynolds, longtime supporter of Dr. Hurwitz and President of the Pain Relief Network which is spearheading the pain community's opposition to the government crackdown on Americans in chronic pain and the doctors who care for them, was elated to learn of the court's decision,

"Dr. Hurwitz's trial was such a preposterous travesty, it is a great relief that the 4th found reason to reverse. Reading the opinion, however, only makes it all the more clear, that the legal issues surrounding the criminalization of medicine are so convoluted, it's no wonder doctors wont chance it and relieve the pain of this country's infirmed."

Dr. Frank Fisher, a consultant to Pain Relief Network and a victor against government overreaching in the State of California was happy for his colleague but concerned about the implications of the decision.

"The concept of good faith is discussed in terms of objective and subjective standards. The frightening thing about determining good faith on an objective basis is that it becomes a matter of examining whether the defendant's medical conduct conformed with the opinions of "expert" witnesses, rather than considering the defendant's good intentions towards his patients and his corresponding lack of criminal intent."

"The result is that the well-intentioned physician had better not ever do anything to which any of his colleagues might take exception."

When Congress passed the Controlled Substances Act back in 1970, it was widely believed to exempt the treatment of pain when it occurred during the practice of medicine.

Now, the 4th has sprung Dr. Hurwitz, but has simultaneously perverted the original rationale for the law

"drug prohibition has officially found a home inside of good faith medicine. While the millions of Americans in pain already knew that doctors were forced to act as law enforcement officers when it comes to pain, here the 4th validates this disturbing reality," says Siobhan Reynolds. "We are going to challenge this law based on what its enforcement is doing to the sick people of this country."

My radio Doc I never miss on Sat and sunday. Cuz he is pro meds. When he starts getting worried I do too. He was talking awhile back that some folks should find alternative pain treatments cuz Drs are running scared. The dang gov is after them if they script too many pills. He said not that there's anything wrong with narcotics. Its the way the politicians and DEA Officials go about trying to solve drug problems they go about it wrong and..we all pay he said, for their stupidity.
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