The DEA's War on Pain Doctors

"In Roanoke, Virginia, pain specialist Dr. Cecil Knox and two of his associates were accused of operating what federal prosecutors call "a pill mill." Prosecutors alleged that Knox overprescribed OxyContin and methadone to increase the profits of his financially struggling operation and that this contributed to the deaths of eight patients. Armed agents in flak jackets raided Knox's office. "They all came in with guns drawn," a clinic employee who was present during the raid reported to the Pain Relief Network. "I thought I was going to die. My husband was helping out that day, and a DEA agent came in and pointed a gun at his head and said, 'Get off the phone now.' " (As this story went to press, news came that the feds failed to win a single conviction in the case; the jury cleared Knox of 30 of the 69 charges, deadlocking on the remaining counts.) In another case of DEA strong-arm tactics, more than 20 agents burst into a Dallas pain clinic in June. The agents kicked down doors, ransacked the office of Dr. Daniel Maynard, and handcuffed patients, including an elderly woman with a stroller and an oxygen tank."

This article is a good read if you can get past the mention of a certain conservative who as of late has been in news related to this topic. It IS a semi long read though, as articles go.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/vv/20031107/lo_vv/48381

Sad what the war on drugs has come to.

This needs to end.

The whole "War on Drugs" is a national tragedy. Now, since we can't win the war on street drugs, we arrest pain specialists. It's appalling.