CONDITIONS FOR DOCTOR'S BOND SET

Charges Involve Pain Medication

ALEXANDRIA- A federal magistrate opened the way yesterday for the release
on bond of a well-known doctor whose arrest last week on drug and
prescription-fraud charges has raised protests among patients with
intractable pain.

But U.S. Magistrate Barry R. Poretz stayed provisions of a strict bond
regimen that would essentially place Dr. William E. Hurwitz under house arrest.

Poretz gave federal prosecutors until tomorrow to decide if they will
appeal the ruling, which could make family members and supporters of
Hurwitz liable for $1 million in bond money if he flees.

"He would wipe out the family finances if he flees," said Poretz, noting
that he was "spreading the risk" among Hurwitz' 22-year-old daughter, his
86-year-old mother, a brother, his former wife and her husband.

Each of them must guarantee the bond. In addition, Hurwitz would be under
24-hour electronic surveillance and would be obligated to stay in the
Washington area. He could not practice medicine or give medical advice.

Referring to Hurwitz as "mister" rather than "doctor," assistant U.S.
Attorney Mark Lytle described Hurwitz as a man who has minimal ties to the
Northern Virginia community, has sold his home and is unemployed.

He questioned if any set of conditions would prevent him from fleeing.

Hurwitz, 57, faces a life sentence if convicted of charges issued in a
49-count indictment last week that followed a two-year federal investigation.

The indictment alleges Hurwitz conspired with patients to prescribe large
doses of addictive drugs that were then sold on the street. Three patients
listed in the indictment died; some were not properly assessed by him;
Hurwitz allegedly knew some were drug dealers; and, he failed to consult
with other doctors, according to the indictment.

Lytle has described Hurwitz as a man whose white coat and pen served as a
license to deal drugs; he has sought to distance the doctor's prosecution
from the notion that this is merely a malpractice case or a matter of bad
judgment.

But the executive director of a national organization focused on drug
issues and medical care said yesterday that Hurwitz's prescription methods
and patient care have always been closely monitored by the Virginia Board
of Medicine.

"If he was doing something so wrong, they could have yanked his license and
stopped him instantly," said Dr. Jane Orient, of the Arizona-based
Association of American Physicians and Surgeons.

When the state medical board took up many of the same issues in May that
are now addressed in the federal indictment, the board put Hurwitz on
probation and set up provisions he needed to meet to re-open his office.

Hurwitz had closed his practice in McLean last year in August after a raid
by federal agents. He learned he was the target of a federal criminal
investigation in February last year.

Orient described Hurwitz as "a national leader at the vanguard" of offering
treatments for people suffering unbearable pain; she blasted the federal
government's efforts to prosecute Hurwitz and other doctors around the
country involved in heavy-dosage medication.

"We're getting calls every day from doctors who see what's happening to
Bill Hurwitz and are scared to proceed with their own patients," Orient said.

Hurwitz's lawyer, James Hundley, said yesterday that Hurwitz treated each
of his patients with care and concern and said that patient conduct that
was illegal was beyond his control.

But the indictment alleges Hurwitz clearly knew of the illicit activities
carried out by some of his patients and he continued prescribing medicines
for them.

Outside the federal courthouse yesterday, Leigh Anne Franklin, a Hurwitz
supporter who traveled to Alexandria from North Carolina, described
Hurwitz, dressed yesterday in a black-and-white striped jail uniform, as a
saint.

"He saved my life and my sister's life when doctor after doctor had turned
us down," she said, describing her severe pain from kidney stones and a
sister's back problems.

"Now that he's been arrested, my doctors back home are really having doubts
about what to do. They're terrified."