Billy IS Guilty Of Believing Authorities

Billy Is Guilty Of One Thing: Believing Authorities; email from family of a Hurwitz patient; late December, 2004. Originally posted to listServ of the NFTP or PRN and published by Our Chronic Pain Mission (OCPM). Source.

========== William Hurwitz, portrayed as a drug dealer by prosecutors, is a hero to advocates of patients in pain. I received the email below privately shortly after Dr. Hurwitz’ conviction in 2004. I’d forgotten about it till it turned up on a search today, having been published by OCPM. Personal identifiers have been removed. My comments follow the indented letter.

“Dear Dr DeLuca, “For over a yr. we took my son to Dr Hurwitz for easing his intractable pain. It was the first time in 18 years my husband said “That Doctor in Washington is really helping.” We all noticed the improvement, not moaning, sleeping outside on scooter, etc. “Our family is shocked about this unrightest judgment against Dr Hurwitz. It’s hard to believe this could have happen, the screening to become a patient Dr Hurwitz - the required ‘Drs referral” form…etc. “We are outraged at all the damage a few caused - on Dr Hurwits and the patients in dire need of his care. No way this judgment should have fell on him. “The first week at Dr Hurwitz we were concerned about the amount of medication given our son. Dr Hurwitz told us “that’s not a problem. Xxx’s dose is very low than all my other patients. And the State of Virginia, the DEA and the Medical Board are in close watch over everything I prescribe. We have a agreement which they all know the prescriptions and amounts that are prescribed.” “We All Wish Dr. Hurwitz and Family + ultimate Victory !” — signed, the XXX family

Read the last paragraph carefully (emphasis mine). This family is confirming my direct memory of conversations with Billy in those years, which I have written about before. It speaks directly to Billy’s intent. Bill Hurwitz thought he had an ‘understanding’ with the authorities, he thought, not only was he being totally above board about what he was doing, and apparently told lots of people like me and these people, but he also thought that the authorities were responsibly monitoring his practice as per agreement in a sort of defacto partnership. I think Billy saw his work in part as a demonstration project - an operalization of what the Pain societies and ASAM taught in the 90’s (and still do) - a sort of supervised, real life, proof-of-concept study of outpatient chronic opioid therapy. Anyway, Billy’s openness and willingness to work with state and fed regulators towards the manifestation of better pain practice in this country didn’t work out too well. Well, as I have also previously written, his openness with authorities always gave me the willies and I told him so. Guess I was right, huh? His federal law enforcement “partners” stabbed him in the back, simply and without apology. And the VA state med board just dummied up (real class outfit, apparently - it’s boards like you’all that give physicians a bad name; you are cowards). I am being cynical about Billy’s heart; it’s an emotional defense. It is his openness, his “hey kids, let’s put on a show!” enthusiasm, his pure strain of medical values (we can relieve this suffering so we must), and his raw guts — these are the qualities that attracted me to Bill, are the qualities I wish I had more of, are what I love and respect about him. But let’s face it comrades, right now these are qualities that’ll land you in jail in our calling. Personally, I’ve seen enough doc-cop ‘trust and partnership’ for several lifetimes. Would all you nice policemen just go away so clinicians and public health geniuses and legal-types-of-good-will could have some room to work on what would just be an emminently improvable public health problem without your ‘contributions’? ..alex…