 
News of the Day ... in Perspective3/17/2005Government demands $415,000 in criminal forfeiture from Dr. Hurwitz As part of the sentencing of pain specialist William Hurwitz, M.D., U.S. Attorneys have filed a motion demanding criminal forfeiture of “the entire amount of the proceeds obtained during the course of the conspiracy” from the illegal activity, directly or indirectly. Because his medical license is “property that facilitated the offenses of conviction,” the government also claims the license is subject to forfeiture. The government calculated the amount by multiplying the total practice revenue for the period in question by 21 percent. The percentage is the number of patients with a record of criminal charges (105, of whom 60 of these had prior drug or prescription fraud charges) divided by the total number of patients in Dr. Hurwitz’s database (510). There were no deductions for overhead or taxes, and no estimate of the payment actually received for treatment of these specific patients. The government argued that it is “more likely than not [that] such patients were not legitimate.” The amount demanded includes the $219,769.84 already seized from Dr. Hurwitz’s retirement account, plus a lien that will follow him personally for the “duration of his prison term and beyond” [assuming that he lives to be released]. A hearing is set for April 7. Additional information:
United States’ Motion for Preliminary Order of Forfeiture
“Prosecutor Wants Life Sentence for Dr. Hurwitz,” AAPS News, April 2005.
News of the Day Archive, March 9, 2005; Nov 28, Dec 10, Dec 16, 2004.
Hurwitz prosecution, defense brief, news stories, articles by Dr. Hurwitz
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