Profession
Va. pain doctor sentenced to 57 months in prison
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Aug. 6, 2007
A controversial Virginia pain specialist was sentenced last month to nearly five years in prison after a federal jury convicted him of 16 counts of drug trafficking.
An attorney for William E. Hurwitz, MD, told The New York Times that the physician could be free in as little as 17 months, given the time he has already served.
Dr. Hurwitz initially received 25 years after a 2004 conviction, but that guilty verdict was tossed out on appeal because the trial judge failed to instruct jurors that they could take into account the physician's "good faith" in prescribing high doses of opioids to treat patients in pain.
Drug Enforcement Administration officials highlighted the case as part of a wide-ranging effort to battle recreational use of prescription drugs by cracking down on pain physicians they say are not doing enough to prevent diversion of narcotics. Pain medicine experts said Dr. Hurwitz was a victim of an unjust prosecution that affected the willingness of other doctors to appropriately treat patients with severe chronic pain.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2007/08/06/prbf0806.htm.
