|
Weitzel
Prosecution
Condemned
by
Leading
Pain
Specialist
8/17/01
DRCNet reported two weeks ago on the case
of Dr. Weitzel (http://www.drcnet.org/wol/197.html#drweitzel),
a Utah physician who spent six months in state prison before a judge threw
out his conviction as improper. At issue are pain treatment practices
that prosecutors portrayed as murder but supporters consider proper and
compassionate care.
The same day, one of the nation's leading
pain treatment specialists weighed in on the issue, defending Dr. Weitzel
and strongly condemning county prosecutors in an editorial titled "Prosecutors
Disregarded Compassionate Care," published in the Ogden Standard Examiner,
a newspaper based in Weitzel's Davis County, on Friday, August 3rd.
Dr. Stratton Hill, founder of the Pain
Service at the University of Texas and 1995 recipient of the American Cancer
Society Humanitarian Award, wrote the following:
"I testified for Dr. Robert Weitzel
during his murder trial last summer in Davis County. In my opinion,
this was one of the most egregious abuses of government power I have ever
witnessed. The Davis County prosecutors were, and continue to be,
misinformed and misguided. They demonstrated utter disregard for
the quality of life of the citizens in their county who suffer painful
and distressing symptoms often associated with the end of life. They
performed, and continue to perform, a disservice to the people of the entire
state of Utah.
"Their misinformed and misguided efforts
are setting back compassionate, distressing-symptom-relief care for patients
who suffer chronic, painful medical conditions to the Neanderthal Age.
"Physicians cannot afford to risk regulatory
sanctions and criminal conviction for providing appropriate care for their
patients.
"Nothing in the records of the patients
under Dr. Weitzel's care that I reviewed remotely suggested any criminal
behavior. He provided compassionate, proper medical care to patients
with highly complicated medical problems that fell well within the standard
of practice for treating such patients.
"It is time for Utahns to remove such despotic
and irresponsible prosecutors who are doing nothing to "protect" them and,
indeed, are doing them a disservice. Physicians must determine what
is proper medical care for patients and not policemen and/or prosecutors.
"Dr. Weitzel continues to be victimized
by individuals who are out of control. Charges against him should
be dropped, and the State Bar of Utah should take disciplinary action against
the Davis County prosecutors."
-- END --
|
Issue #199, 8/17/01
Editorial: Let Justice Be Done | US Global Lead in Imprisonment Still Safe: State Prison Populations Begin to Decline but Feds Make Up Difference | Prison Industry Confab Gets Heated Reception in Philadelphia | Mandatory Minimums Under Threat, Supreme Court Showdown Looming After 9th Circuit Rules Against Certain Drug Sentencing Laws | Oregon Bar Ethics Brouhaha Continues: Feds Still Refusing to Authorize Undercover Operations, State Narcs Could Be Out There | Department of Education Cites Pressure to Modify Restrictions on Financial Aid | Australia: Top Cops Propose "Heroin Bank," Political Firestorm Ensues as Prime Minister Nixes Idea | Chess Players Become Drug Tested Pawns in Game's Bid for Olympic Status, Players Not Amused | Vermont Governor Leads Way in Restricting Oxycontin for the Poor | Weitzel Prosecution Condemned by Leading Pain Specialist | Marijuana Extracts for Pain Study to Begin in Canada | DRCNet Book Review: Hooked: Five Addicts Challenge Our Misguided Drug Rehab System | T-shirts for Victory! Special Offer and Appeal from DRCNet This Month | Action Alerts: Ecstasy Bill, HEA, Mandatory Minimums, Medical Marijuana, John Walters | HEA Campaign Still Seeking Student Victim Cases -- New York Metropolitan Area Especially Urgent | The Reformer's Calendar
|
This issue -- main page
This issue -- single-file printer version
Drug War Chronicle -- main page
Chronicle archives
|
PERMISSION to reprint or
redistribute any or all of the contents of Drug War Chronicle (formerly The Week Online with DRCNet is hereby
granted. We ask that any use of these materials include proper credit and,
where appropriate, a link to one or more of our web sites. If your
publication customarily pays for publication, DRCNet requests checks
payable to the organization. If your publication does not pay for
materials, you are free to use the materials gratis. In all cases, we
request notification for our records, including physical copies where
material has appeared in print. Contact: StoptheDrugWar.org: the Drug Reform Coordination Network,
P.O. Box 18402, Washington, DC 20036, (202) 293-8340 (voice), (202)
293-8344 (fax), e-mail [email protected]. Thank
you.
Articles of a purely
educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of the DRCNet
Foundation, unless otherwise noted.
|
