Virginia pain specialist William Hurwitz was convicted of drug trafficing today. He faces a possible life sentence.

During the trial, the DEA renounced and removed from its website a guide for pain doctors on how to prescribe narcotics without fear of prosecution. Hurwitz’s lawyers wanted the pamphlet admitted as evidence, on the assumption that if a doctor followed recommendations published by the DEA, he ought not be convicted of drug trafficking. The judge wouldn’t allow the pamphlet to be admitted as evidence.

Hurwitz’s conviction is a particularly sad and troubling chapter in America’s drug war. The DEA’s war on American citizens has now morhed into a war on doctors and people in pain. The Hurwitz conviction will make physicians and clinics all the more wary about prescribing pain medication, and thus make it all the more difficult for people in chronic pain to find relief — relief that is out there, but is in many cases unattainable thanks to the fear of persecution wrought by a government agency out of control and aggressive U.S. Attorney’s like Gene “We’ll root pain doctors out like the Taliban” Rossi.

How very shameful.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 16th, 2004 at 11:02 am by Radley Balko and is filed under Pain Treatment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.