Pubdate: Thu, 24 Mar 2005 Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch (VA) Copyright: 2005 Richmond Newspapers Inc. Contact: http://www.timesdispatch.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/365 Author: Paul Bradley, Times-Dispatch Staff Writer Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Hurwitz Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?232 (Chronic Pain) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/oxycontin.htm (Oxycontin/Oxycodone) JUDGE DENIES BAIL FOR VA DOCTOR Physician Called Flight Risk; He Faces Minimum Term of Years on Drug Convictions 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." One patient received a prescription for 1,600 painkillers a day, testimony in the trial showed. Another continued to get prescriptions even after testing positive for cocaine. In addition, Hurwitz was convicted of recklessly treating some of his legitimate patients, some of whom overdosed on the drugs the doctor prescribed. One of those patients, Linda Lalmond, died of a drug overdose in a Fairfax County hotel room June 1, 2000, a day after consuming morphine prescribed and dispensed by Hurwitz. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake