blondie357
Stranger
Reged: 04/28/04
Posts: 20
Loc: FL
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Va. Doctor Defends Opiate Prescriptions
By MATTHEW BARAKAT
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) - A pain management doctor charged with drug trafficking acknowledged Monday he prescribed unusually high doses of opiates for some patients, but maintained it was always for a medical reason.
William E. Hurwitz is accused by federal prosecutors of knowingly prescribing addictive drugs to dealers and prescribing such massive amounts to legitimate patients that two died of overdoses.
Hurwitz, arrested in September, could face a life prison sentence if convicted of the most serious counts against him.
Taking the stand Monday, Hurwitz said he knew some patients were drug abusers, but felt compelled to continue treating them with drugs like OxyContin - or at the very least to refrain from abruptly canceling their prescriptions.
``Abrupt termination of these medicines is tantamount to torture,'' Hurwitz said.
Hurwitz frequently prescribed 100 tablets or more a day of OxyContin tablets for patients with chronic pain as they developed tolerance to lesser doses. Court testimony indicated at least one patient received a prescription for 1,600 pills a day.
Some patients were allegedly using the prescriptions to deal drugs; many have struck plea bargains and testified against him.
Hurwitz said he did not know any of his patients were dealers.
Expert witnesses have testified for both the prosecution and defense, differing on whether Hurwitz's prescriptions were medically justified. Among those to testify on Hurwitz's behalf was Russell Portenoy, chairman of the pain management department at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City.
Hurwitz treated nearly 500 patients from 39 states from the late 1990s through 2002.
His trial is expected to go to the jury this week.
12/06/04 22:06
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deprest
Journeyman
Reged: 08/12/04
Posts: 98
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wow i bet alot of us wish we could find a doc like that lol just kidding (sorta)
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emb708
Journeyman
Reged: 08/30/04
Posts: 61
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ok i think doctor need to give us more meds than they do(if you can even get one to give you any)but come on does anyone realy need 100 or 1,600 pills a day. sure it would be nice to have that i would never have to fell pain agen
or worry about going with out but boy that asking for it.
it doctor like this that make it hard for use to get real help we need but ha it would be nice you cloud have your owen op with that much every day and can you see what would happen if you took that in to welgreans to be filled lol
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wolfmartinez
Stranger
Reged: 11/01/04
Posts: 17
Loc: Traumatically torn from Portla...
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There's another pain doctor out of Roanoke, VA that the feds have been after for years. His first trial ended in a bunch of not-guilties on some issues and a hung jury on others and they're still after him. Name of Cecil Byron Knox III. Google the name (with and without the middle name) if you want more info...
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TIGGIE
Newbie
Reged: 04/29/04
Posts: 40
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I can't believe someone can even take 1,600 pills a day, esp Oxy's, WOW.
Edited by TIGGIE (12/07/04 10:21 AM)
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mackmoves
Member
Reged: 05/21/04
Posts: 179
Loc: Jacksonville
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wait, 1600 a day!? that's 48,000 (FORTY EIGHT THOUSAND) a month. I am having a problem understand how someone could use 1600 a day. How is that filled? If this is the truth and we are talking c2, c3, heck even bars(c4) at that rate, this doctor is a moron. That would be more than 2 pills every minute.
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I'm not doing anything illegal, it's none of your biz. why
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Chimingin
Journeyman
Reged: 05/25/04
Posts: 89
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Nobody is using 1600 per day--they would be dead long before their 100th pill, let alone thousandth. It's clear that people were getting this many and drug dealing them. It's good that they are catching docs like this, IMO. He's clearly involved in the drug dealing business, and I wouldn't be surprised if he were getting a huge kickback on the sales.
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TTFREE
Member
Reged: 11/29/04
Posts: 101
Loc: MD USA
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No Way! that many I'll agree with others. That kind of tolerance is unheard of defiantly a misprint WOW!!
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Chance Favors the Prepared Mind !
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