Pubdate: Tue, 24 Dec 2002
Source: Winston-Salem Journal (NC)
Copyright: 2002 Piedmont Publishing Co. Inc.
Contact:  http://www.journalnow.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/504
Note: The Journal does not publish letters from writers outside its daily 
home delivery circulation area.
Author: Associated Press
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/oxycontin.htm (Oxycontin/Oxycodone)

PROSECUTORS LOOK AT DOCTOR IN DRUG CASE

He Prescribed OxyContin To Man Who Pleaded Guilty To Selling It

Federal prosecutors in northern Virginia have obtained 18 convictions 
against dealers and abusers of the prescription pain medicine OxyContin and 
are investigating a doctor they consider a co-conspirator in plans to 
illegally distribute thousands of the pills.

The doctor at the center of the investigation, William E. Hurwitz of 
McLean, has shut down his practice and defiantly accused the government of 
interfering with the doctor-patient relationship.

Court documents do not name Hurwitz, but he acknowledges that he is the 
unnamed McLean doctor who was a source of OxyContin to Timothy Dwayne 
Urbani, 32, of Manassas. Urbani pleaded guilty earlier this month to 
dealing between 23,000 and 74,000 OxyContin pills in Tennessee and Virginia.

As part of a plea bargain, Urbani admitted that he participated in an armed 
robbery of a Fauquier County pharmacy, an arson-insurance scam in 
Winchester, and other criminal action to obtain OxyContin for resale on the 
street.

He also said he bought $72,000 worth of OxyContin over 10 months in 2001 
and 2002 from a prescription obtained through Hurwitz. The prescriptions 
allowed Urbani to obtain 1,500 OxyContin pills every two to four weeks.

Urbani pleaded guilty to three counts, including conspiracy to distribute 
OxyContin and conspiracy to commit arson, that collectively carry a maximum 
sentence of 45 years. As part of the agreement, Urbani agreed to testify at 
any future trials.

Hurwitz has not been charged. He has a history of disciplinary action taken 
against him by the medical boards in the District of Columbia and Virginia.

The Washington Post reported yesterday that federal prosecutors were 
investigating Dr. Joseph K. Statkus, the operator of a pain clinic in 
Centreville, Va.

In a telephone interview yesterday, Hurwitz said he is being persecuted for 
the misdeeds of his patients.

"I felt a duty to these patients, understanding there was a risk they might 
behave improperly," he said. "Our role in life as doctors is to listen to 
patients, to try to make them feel better or to cure them."

Court records indicate that Urbani admitted to Hurwitz that he had been 
arrested for dealing OxyContin, but that Hurwitz continued to prescribe the 
medicine. But he warned Urbani to be careful because the Drug Enforcement 
Administration was investigating him.

Urbani's wife was given a prescription of 500 OxyContin pills; the medical 
records indicate Hurwitz's basis for giving the prescription was "anxiety 
due to continuing legal harassment by the federal prosecutor" against the 
Urbanis, according to court records.

Hurwitz said that Urbani is under pressure from the federal government to 
portray him badly. He also said that it sets a dangerous precedent to hold 
doctors accountable for patients' actions.

"You might make the analogy to a car salesman. A guy who sells a car 
doesn't know if he's selling it to a safe driver.... Where do you cut the 
liability?" Hurwitz asked.

Prosecutors declined to comment specifically about the investigation 
against Hurwitz. U.S. Attorney Paul McNulty said, "The 18 convictions 
demonstrate the very serious commitment of this office to prosecute the 
illegal prescription of pain medication, including the very powerful 
OxyContin."

At one court hearing, though, prosecutor Gene Rossi said that Hurwitz 
"through willful blindness, deliberate ignorance, if not intent ... would 
give obscene amounts of pills" to Urbani and others who have been a focus 
of the investigation.
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