Posts Tagged With: trial

The treatment of chronic pain is an issue of national importance. If petitioner’s conviction is allowed to stand then any single opioid prescription can be called into question based upon misconceptions which should not be allowed to permeate the atmosphere of The American Courtroom.

Dr. Sharon Johnston comes to this Court having been convicted of a crime that does not exist, by a court without jurisdiction to enter a conviction, and affirmed by a court that did not confirm that it had jurisdiction to do so and – worse yet – blatantly attempted to “bury” its decision through depublication… This entire proceeding has been indelibly painted with the bright and unmistakable color of unconstitutional outcome-driven caprice.

Maybe we all deserve the pain. If we are too stupid to understand that aspirin kills way more people than morphine, and that there are a whole lot worse things for you and your damn Federal prosecutors to worry about than if maybe your neighbor is getting too much pain relief (sheesh!) – if you are that effin stupid then maybe you deserve the chronic pain which YOUR government has already imposed on you and your children as the defacto law of the land.

I am very glad to see physicians, who have themselves been savaged by the government, publishing their stories. Consider Dr. Jackson’s article, Conviction without a Crime, to be a companion piece to Dr. Rottschaefer’s article discussed in the previous item here, The Criminal Criminal Justice System. Together these two articles will give the reader a good sense, I think, of the utter breakdown of professional ethics, common sense, and fairness in any case involving controlled substances.

I spoke to Billy’s wife briefly, recently, and am very happy to be able to report that Dr. Hurwitz is no longer in federal prison. He is currently in a half-way house in D.C. and will be transitioning to house arrest as part of his parole and probation requirements… He is in a sort of “titration to house arrest” best I understand it. Meaning, he is starting to get overnight visits with his family – YEA! – and more and more of that till he sort of “stabilizes” on a regimen of maintenance house arrest. (Is house arrest a substitution therapy for …

Update on the case of USA v Dr. Martinez in Washington state. Martinez has been acquitted of all drug crime charges. The fraud charges remaining after her 2007 fed trial have also been dismissed, but the govt can bring the fraud charges anew. Also examined is a recent Yakima Herald article announcing “new” charges that are not, in any reality-based sense, “new” at all.

Article by Dr. DeLuca regarding Jacob Sullum\’s comments about a recent SAMHSA analysis showing low addiction rates for most substances of abuse, and also discusses Hurwitz\’ excellent 2005 analysis of Government data, the peer reviewed

Every time I think this action by Siobhan Reynolds on behalf of the abandoned pain patients of Dr. Stephen Schneider can’t get any worse, on the human-suffering scale, the Fed. lashes out again, digging themselves in deeper, making themselves look dopey; not to mention the State, as Congressional Clowns pander and Medical Board members dither… The band played on. [...]

Blog post about Pain Relief Network suing the government regarding the Dr. Schneider case. PRN seeks to enjoin the State Medical Board from taking action against Dr. Schneider\’s medical license.

Blog post of article from Witchita Eagle (AP) about the mistreatment of Dr. Schneider in federal custody.

News item: “A key government witness [Jennifer Riggle] was sentenced Thursday to six months in prison for repeatedly violating her probation conditions. Riggle’s probation was revoked for shoplifting and failing three drug tests. [She] originally avoided prison by testifying against Dr. Rottschaefer, a former Oakmont doctor convicted in March 2004 on 153 counts of illegally prescribing painkillers.” Now: RELEASE DR. ROTTSHAEFER, victim of an OBVIOUSLY vindictive prosecution by the notoriously politically ambitious and self-absorbed U.S. Attorney, Mary Beth Buchanan!

Blog entry. Several days ago Dr. William Mangino that this blog has followed in depth (see links above and below), sent me three documents, some fifteen pages in all, handwritten in block text, which I will call “Mangino Petitioner\’s Motion” including a legal brief, and supporting documents to the judge.” (Available as PDF) [...]

Two poems by Dr. William Hurwitz: “Billy’s Lament” and “The Appeal”; published doctordeluca.com; 2005. I like these poems. I’ve characterized the voice as Dr. Suess Meets Lenny Bruce, and I mean no disrespect to any of these three poets. In these two poems Dr. Hurwitz also reviews his conviction and the basic strategy for his appeal.

Letter from Linda Paey to the pain relief advocates of the Pain Relief Network expressing her gratitude to all concerned for her husband’s safe return to their family.

Dr. Paul Heberle’s notes from which he testified at Dr. Mangino\’s sentencing hearing, September 2007.

Letter from attorney John Flannery to the pain advocacy community reflecting on the case of Richard Paey, now fully pardoned, and the role played by Siobhan Reynolds and the Pain Relief Network in producing this major victory in the Pain Crisis.

Pain relief activist Christine Heberle on the bond hearing of Dr. William Mangino, Newcastle, PA, 2007-09-14. Excerpt: “First let me say for those unfamiliar with the case that this is truly a crime-less conviction. He was charged with the typical state charges of prescribing outside the bounds of a responsible segment of the medical community. Now I know that is not what the statute says, but it is how the prosecution phrases it. The prosecutions expert witness (Dr. Evanko) said that Dr. Mangino’s prescribing was not excessive, and the charts reviewed were of chronic pain patients who needed care. In …

Dr. Mangino’s comments on “bonding out of jail” – excerpt: “have ‘Bonded’ out of jail as of 5 P.M. today. I thank those several people who contributed the $ 3900 dollars I needed to be released. My attorneys also worked very hard…”

Blog post drawing attention to Radley Balko’s late August article on Fox website which is a very thorough review of this important case in the modern war on doctors. See the Rottschaefer archives linked to above for key legal briefs in addition to high points in the journalistic record. Links to archives on Dr. Hurwitz, Dr. McIver.

Blog post about phone conversation with incarcerated Dr. William Hurwitz about recent prescription drug propaganda, and about a planned government appeal of his sentence, in which case the Hurwitz Defense would appeal the conviction.