Effect On Patients
Hurwitz had over 200 patients, many of whom had a difficult time finding a doctor to prescribe opioid medications. Jay Fleming, one of Hurwitz's patients from Arizona, had an especially hard time. Doctors would tell him they would lose their license if they prescribed opiates, something the Arizona Medical Board said was untrue.
After many calls and a visit to speak with a medical board investigator, Fleming was told by the investigator that if he couldn't find a doctor, to go to methadone clinics, and if he didn't get enough, he could go to several methadone clinics, because they didn't share information.
This was unacceptable, so Fleming went to the local newspaper. After a three-part article in the Kingman Minor Newspaper in April 1997 in which the Arizona Medical Board admitted they had no guidelines for doctors on the treatment of chronic pain, in November 1997 the Arizona Medical Board issued Substantive Policy Statement #7 the Use of Controlled Substances for the Treatment of Chronic Pain. Fleming was finally able to find a local doctor willing to prescribe opiates. He continues to fight for patients' rights in Arizona.
Others weren't so lucky: two patients apparently killed themselves because their severe pain went untreated after Hurwitz's practice was closed.
Read more about this topic: William Hurwitz
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