Dr. William Hurwitz, whose case we’ve reported on extensively [7], has been granted a new trial.
From the Washington Post [8]:
A federal appeals court threw out the conviction of William E. Hurwitz yesterday, granting the prominent former Northern Virginia pain-management doctor a new trial because jurors were not allowed to consider whether he prescribed drugs in good faith. The decision again galvanized the national debate that the Hurwitz case had come to symbolize: whether fully licensed doctors prescribing legal medication to patients in chronic pain should be subject to prosecution if their patients abuse or sell the drugs. Patient advocate groups strongly supported Hurwitz and expressed concern that his conviction would have a chilling effect on pain doctors.
This is fantastic news. It’s been over a year and half since Hurwitz’s conviction, during which time we’ve seen a dramatic increase in media attention to the misguided war on pain management doctors and their patients. The controversy [9] surrounding Richard Paey’s case in Florida has brought this issue into the mainstream, ensuring that a second Hurwitz trial will be a tougher sell for prosecutors.
Dr. Hurwitz was manipulated by deceptive patients, then convicted by deceptive prosecutors who lied to the jury and mischaracterized his career-long commitment to effective pain-management. Let’s hope he finally gets the justice he deserves.