Drug-Trafficking Doctor Found Liable In Patient Death
Dr. William E. Hurwitz, of 2004 Federal drug-trafficking trial fame, was the defendant in a recent civil suit out of Prince William County. Dr. Hurwitz agreed to pay the Estate of Mary Nyea the sum of $225,000. Nye was a patient of Hurwitz before his incarceration in 2003. Nye was being treated for pain from a back-condition and was prescribed Oxycontin.
Nye began experiencing abdominal pain in 2002 and Hurwitz continued her course of Oxycontin to manage the pain. The suit alleged that Dr. Hurwitz was negligent in that he prescribed continued Oxycontin to treat both the back pain and the abdominal pain without ever diagnosing the cause of the latter. After the doctor was incarcerated he advised Nye to find another physician or to decrease her Oxycontin intake. However, because he did not refer her to a specific doctor she was still considered his patient despite his incarceration.
Ms. Nye passed away from pancreatitis that the plaintiff argued would have been prevented if the defendant had not violated the standard of care by managing the pain as opposed to diagnosing its cause. The defense contended that her pancreatitis could not have been detected and that by telling her to seek other medical assistance and to reduce dosage that she was no longer his patient.
For more on his criminal exploits you can visit Dr. Hurwitz’s Wikipedia page.