Re: Huwitz: Half is better than none

hi wayne

perhaps you haven't seen it in the news, but the google servers are all
boloxed -

it's not 'your' posts, but a great majority are being affected this way

some showing up, some not for hours / days, some just go byebye...

the server farms seem to be hoodoo'd with no clear answer as to how long
it's going to take to get straightened out

many of us are able to access the group without going through google so
'we' see your posts via whatever newsgroup server we're on. i lthought i
remembered others posting from hawaiitelcom newsserver [giganews], see:
http://www.hawaiiantel.net/wps/portal/help1


hth

paul

Hawaiian Wayne wrote:

On Apr 28, 5:53 pm, Debs <YOURFOOTdebs02...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
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" <YOURFOOTdebs02...@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.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

OK, what the hell is going on?

I spent an hour on a post and sent it about 6 hours ago (right after
Legends) and it STILL doesn't show!

I know there have been others complaining also, however, at least
their show up on the board eventually! Mine simply vanish!

If this were a moderated group, I'd think I'd been banned or
something...

I know, patience is a virtue...but the reason I post WHEN I post is so
it "fits" in with the conversation, not long after everyone else has
already said and done what's in mine...

Yes, I do hit the "reply" button and just start my post at the bottom
of the previous post (which is silly after a while, don't you think?
We end up with duplicates of duplicates!) and when I'm finished. I
scan it for errors (75% of the time) and hit "send". I patiently wait
to see the "Your post was successful", and then move on to my next
victi...er, ahhh...poster or posterette. LOL!

I'll just have to write the top bananas, the big cheezes, the head
honchos or the 'main veins'....no...wait. Something about that last
one didn't "sound" quite right.....HA!

Aloha For Now on this gorgeous Saturday night (Full Moon on the 2nd!),
Hawaiian Wayne
.

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