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.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake