DOCTOR CHARGED IN OXYCONTIN CASE

49-Count Indictment Alleges Vast Conspiracy

ALEXANDRIA - A federal grand jury indicted a McLean doctor yesterday
on charges that he led a nationwide conspiracy to illegally distribute
OxyContin and other potent painkillers, contributing to the deaths of
at least three patients.

Dr. William E. Hurwitz, 57, was named in a 49-count indictment
charging him with conspiring to traffic drugs, drug trafficking
resulting in death and serious injury, engaging in a criminal
enterprise and health-care fraud.

"The allegations against Dr. Hurwitz tell a story of a major and
deadly drug dealer," U.S. Attorney Paul J. McNulty said. "He is a
physician who, under the guise of chronic-pain management, dispensed
misery and death."

If convicted of the most serious charges, Hurwitz faces life in
prison. Arrested yesterday, he made a brief appearance in U.S.
District Court and was ordered held without bond pending a detention
hearing Monday.

The indictment stems from a 2-year-old federal investigation into
doctors, pharmacists and patients who allegedly have fueled a
lucrative black market in potent painkillers. More than 40 people
already have been convicted.

Hurwitz, who earned a reputation as an unconventional pioneer in the
use of potent drugs to combat chronic pain, has run afoul of
authorities before. His license to practice medicine has been
suspended five times in Virginia, Maryland and Washington over the
past several years. The Virginia Board of Medicine has placed him on
probation for improperly treating several pain patients, including the
three who died from drug overdoses while under his care.

Hurwitz' lawyer, James Hundley, said his client is a legitimate and
caring physician who helped patients with nowhere else to turn in
managing their chronic pain. In past statements, Hurwitz has contended
he is an honest doctor who prescribed painkillers to patients who
desperately needed them, but was duped by some phony patients.

But McNulty compared Hurwitz to "a common drug dealer who pushes crack
on the streets" and profited handsomely from his illegal activities.
The indictment alleges that Hurwitz reaped huge profits by charging
each patient a $1,000 initiation fee and then adding a $250
maintenance fee for office visits and prescriptions. The indictment
seeks the forfeiture of about $2 million in profits gained through the
alleged conspiracy.

At the heart of the alleged conspiracy is the prescription medication
OxyContin. The highly addictive drug has been hailed as a miracle drug
by cancer patients and others with intractable pain but has been
widely abused, especially in small towns in Appalachia where the pills
can sell for $100 each. Abusers crush the pills and then snort or
inject the powder for a quick high.

According to the indictment, Hurwitz operated a high-profile pain
practice in Northern Virginia that included an Internet site. He wrote
prescriptions to patients in 39 states and Canada, often prescribing
hundreds of pills without a physical examination to verify the claimed
illness or condition.

Among the patients he did see, Hurwitz regularly overlooked or ignored
obvious signs of drug abuse, such as needle tracks or rashes, the
indictment alleges. Hurwitz shut his offices last year as
investigators focused on his activities.

The indictment alleges that Hurwitz prescribed "countless
prescriptions for excessive doses" of controlled drugs with the goal
of getting his patients hooked, ensuring payment of the monthly
maintenance fee. The indictment also alleges Hurwitz accepted cash
payments to ignore evidence some were actually drug dealers, selling
their prescription medications on the street.

The most serious charges focus on the deaths of three people from
overdoses of drugs: Rennie Buras Sr. of Louisiana, who died on Oct. 9,
1999; Linda Lalmond, who died in Fairfax County on June 1, 2000; and
Mary Nye, who died in Prince William County on Nov. 4, 2002.

Hurwitz is also charged with seriously injuring an unnamed patient's
unborn baby by prescribing her large amounts of OxyContin while she
was late in her third trimester of pregnancy. The baby was born with a
drug addiction, according to the indictment.