Posted on 12/16/2004 4:45:38 PM PST by neverdem
Va. Man Faces Possible Life Term on Trafficking Counts
A federal jury convicted a prominent former pain doctor on drug trafficking charges yesterday, siding with prosecutors in an increasingly contentious nationwide dispute over whether prescribing large doses of powerful narcotics is criminal behavior or good medicine.
Jurors found William E. Hurwitz guilty of running a drug conspiracy out of his McLean office, convicting him on 50 counts -- including trafficking that caused the death of one patient and seriously injured two others. They acquitted him of nine other counts and deadlocked on the final three in the 62-count indictment.
U.S. District Judge Leonard D. Wexler ordered the jury back to the federal courthouse in Alexandria to resume deliberations today. He then revoked Hurwitz's $2 million bail. Hurwitz removed his tie, handed the change in his pockets to his attorneys and walked out of the courtroom in the custody of U.S. marshals. He had bowed his head slightly when the verdict was read.
The convictions marked the downfall of a controversial doctor whose treatment methods attracted loyalty from many patients but also scrutiny from area medical boards as early as 1991. Hurwitz, a major figure in the growing field of pain management who was once profiled on "60 Minutes," faces up to life in prison even with the acquittals.
As cancer patients and others in chronic pain became increasingly vocal about access to successful treatment, Hurwitz became a symbol in a nationwide debate. Advocates for patients with chronic pain portrayed him as a fully licensed doctor prescribing perfectly legal drugs to patients in dire need with nowhere else to turn.
But the government accused Hurwitz of prescribing excessive amounts of dangerous drugs -- in one instance more than 1,600 pills a day -- to addicts and others, some of whom...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
I have mixed feelings on this. One should be able to get narcotics when you need them without paying the price for other's drug addict behavior. I drives me wild that when I need a Narcotic I can never get it and must hoard my pills for when I need them.
I have no mixed feelings - the government has no business regulating what adults do to their own bodies.
Keep them in a cool, dark area and they will be good for about 15 years!
You the tax payer pay for it when their drug use goes wrong.
A bad overdose can cost up to $200,000 to keep alive.
Should we just refuse them treatment and let them die.
So quit taxing people for it.
A bad overdose can cost up to $200,000 to keep alive.
Why so expensive?
Should we just refuse them treatment and let them die.
No "we" (as taxpayers") to ask in the first place, in my proposal.
I wouldn't stop volunteers, if they want to try to save them. Sounds like cheap medical training, if done right.
Do you expect the hospital to eat the costs of treating abuse drug overdoses?
When you talk about intubation, ventilator in icu for days, xrays, scans and drugs to keep b/p up. It is not hard to get to 200k. I have seen it happen many times.
They are legally compelled to treat anything that rolls in the door that is emergency and life threatening without regard to payment.
When ems deposits them in er, What are they supposed to do?
No, not unless they agreed to do this to get a government subsidy.
They are legally compelled to treat anything that rolls in the door that is emergency and life threatening without regard to payment.
What would happen if we removed the laws compelling treatment?
When you talk about intubation, ventilator in icu for days, xrays, scans and drugs to keep b/p up. It is not hard to get to 200k. I have seen it happen many times.
Sounds like a great opportunity for trainees. You might get a lot of volunteers for this, if handled right. It might bring the cost down enormously.
Never have oral opiods ever killed or injured someone that did not mix them with alcohol or other drugs! Never!
How does one find the time to swallow 1,600 pills a day? That's a hundred pills an hour if you get 8 hours of sleep, so more than one a minute.
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