Re: Huwitz: Half is better than none

Gotcha! I agree with what you say. I just didn't know the background of the case. Thanks for the info. How are you feeling these days? I remember a few weeks back you were having some problems. I hope you are feeling better!!
Thanks,
Debs


OldGoat wrote:

Dear Deb,

Wellll, these are the same guys who said the same doctor rx'ed 64,000 tablets of medication to a patient per day, so there's no confidence in the prosecution at all, they blew it all last time. 1600 pills a day , 1600mgs a day, who really knows? And if it was something like methadone where only 10mg tabs are the norm, I can see it. When I was taking methadone, I used to walk out with a pharmacy bag the size of your normal grocery store bag, just full of the biggest size pill bottles they made, about 2 ft high. So yea I can see it, it's not the doctors fault what the pharmacies decide to stock. I'd rather know milligrams since they're hard to find but the do make a 40mg "biscuit" that you break off 10 mg chunks of.
The only disturbing part that I would have nailed the Doc for was having absolute known junkies and dealers in his office doing their monthly shopping without making help part of the treatment plan. No one is exempt from pain, not even those who squander their lives away thinking of nothing but drugs, doing or dealing, but they are special cases who need special treatment. If you have to have them come in weekly and write 7 rx's, each for one days worth of meds, so be it. But they'd best not come up dirty for anything (except pot-maybe) or walk in actively in withdrawal. That's the time for the addiction specialist that has time to deal with a complex case and taper them out the door. Though how much good does it do? Druggies will always get their drugs, which is why I can't understand all our hoops.
But I don't believe the DEA, they have lied to many times twisted facts to their convenience and just plain made stuff up out of thin air. That's why he should have been judged by other doctors had a chance to explain his side, and the DEA should get their asses back on the cargo ships, looking for real drugs not prescriptions and you never know they may get lucky and stumble over a nuke. But this was not their job, yet they did more damage than anyone, without having to backup facts or even be accurate about them, since they are the Drug Enforcement Administration. But you can't say 64,000 pills a day to a jury and six month later tell the new jury of people who read that, but not the retraction (buried under the horse racing results) "never mind".
If it was murder (which is why the one death he was charged with was not guilty) there is enough reasonable doubt that he'd be free. The burden of more likely than not...?
I'd have loved to be a fly on that wall. Change of venue should have been step one. You don't call a doctor a crack dealer for weeks on the front page of the local paper and expect a decent hearing of the evidence.It just seems like he helped more than he hurt.

Objection:irrelevant!--og


"Debs" <YOURFOOTdebs02114@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:59i9u4F2j1tjgU1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

OG, I am a bit confused. Do you think that a script for 1600 pills/day is a good idea? Or that that's incorrect info or it's good that he will prescribe whatever his patients need and not worry about the DEA?
Debs


OldGoat wrote:


But it's still bull***. This will be a cut and past job via notepad so no attachments and all .txt.
I still cant buy the line of 1,600 pills per day after their gaff at the last trial. The whole thing reeks of DEA mathematical gymnastics and manure and why was there no change of venue after the Washington Post splashed their "error" of 64,000 pills a day for one patient. At least they didn't fail to mention CP'ers. Now we look like stupid junkies instead of some other kind (is there any other kind?)

Pardon the editorial--og
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Va. doctor convicted of drug trafficking**

A pain-management doctor who prescribed large amounts of opiates and drew patients from across the country to his northern Virginia clinic has been convicted on 16 counts of drug trafficking by a federal jury.

The jury acquitted William E. Hurwitz on 17 other counts on Friday, and a judge dismissed 17 others, including the most serious charge - drug trafficking resulting in death.

It was the second time in three years that a federal jury convicted Hurwitz of drug trafficking. His 2004 conviction - and 25-year prison sentence - was tossed out by a federal appeals court, which ruled that a judge improperly barred the jury from considering whether Hurwitz was acting in good faith.

Hurwitz faces up to 20 years on each count when he is sentenced on July 13.

Prosecutors argued that Hurwitz was no better than a common drug dealer who ignored obvious signs that his patients were dealers or addicts.

"Drug traffickers come in all shapes and sizes - this one just happened to wear a white coat and be a doctor," U.S. Attorney Chuck Rosenberg said in a statement issued after the verdict.

Numerous patients had prescriptions for hundreds of pills a day, and one had a prescription for 1,600 pills a day. Several of his former patients testified against him, and prosecutors played tapes of conversations in which Hurwitz seemed to know that his patients were selling their prescriptions.

Defense lawyers argued that Hurwitz was one of a handful of doctors in the country who was willing to risk persecution by authorities and prescribe the doses necessary to alleviate patients from crippling pain.

Several of his former patients and their family members testified on his behalf.

Hurwitz, whose high-profile advocacy of high-dose opioid treatment once landed him on "60 Minutes," has been scrutinized by authorities for decades, and has had his medical license suspended twice, in 1991 and 1996.

Between 1998 and 2002, Hurwitz drew more than 400 patients from 39 states to his clinic in McLean. Prosecutors said the waiting room was frequently occupied by stoned or sleeping patients with track marks on their arms.

The case against Hurwitz was part of a long-running federal, state and local investigation dubbed "Operation Cotton Candy" that netted more than 130 convictions in Virginia and elsewhere for drug trafficking and prescription fraud of Oxycontin and other drugs.

Numerous physician and patient advocacy groups supported Hurwitz, and said his case should be dealt with by state medical boards rather than criminal courts. Hurwitz received extensive pro bono legal assistance at his second trial.

Calls to Hurwitz's lead attorney, Richard Sauber, placed late Friday were not immediately returned.





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