Article published Jun 24, 2004 Herrera: I won't prescribe OxyContin MONTGOMERY - A Gadsden doctor who believes he lost his medical license over the dangerous and powerful painkiller OxyContin said he won't ever prescribe it. "Never again in my life," Pascual Herrera Jr. said after learning the Medical Licensure Commission voted Wednesday to reinstate the license he lost three years ago. "I've learned my lesson," Herrera said of OxyContin that when used illegally and improperly has caused numerous deaths including at least three in the Gadsden area, according to authorities. Herrera said he kept up with required studies and will seek to return to work as a doctor. "I'm confident that I can jump right in; I've been keeping up with it doing medical continuing education," he said. "Like I said, I've had a lot of free time and I think you're supposed to do 12 hours a year and I've done 100." Medical Licensure Commission attorney Wayne Turner said the commission didn't like the state judge's order last week reinstating Herrera's license but "will comply with the law" requiring immediate reinstatement. "The commission is going to do an order reinstating his license and it will come out in a few days," Turner said. "They're going to obey the law but they're not happy about it and in all likelihood will appeal," Turner said of the commission. Montgomery County Circuit Judge Johnny Hardwick last week overturned the license revocation, saying evidence he reviewed wasn't sufficient to revoke the license. Hardwick said the commission must have revoked the license for other reasons. Herrera said he believes he was singled out because he is foreign-born and is not part of a group or hospital. Turner denied those were the reasons. Turner said the commission has 42 days to appeal to the Court of Civil Appeals. Herrera's lawyer, Al Agricola, said he is pleased "that Herrera is going to be able to practice medicine again in Alabama and we look forward to defending Judge Hardwick's order on appeal." He said he doesn't believe Herrera is damaged goods based on the revocation of his license. "Anyone who has concern about that should read Judge Hardwick's order and that would alleviate any taint associated with it because it shouldn't have happened," Agricola said. Agricola said "there was such a lack of evidence to support the charges the commission brought that (Hardwick) had no choice under the law." Herrera said he expected an appeal. "I suppose they want to avoid the precedent of somebody getting their license back and want to make sure it doesn't come back as a ruling," he said. Herrera said there are substitutes to OxyContin that are less dangerous if they get into the wrong hands. "(OxyContin) is too powerful a medicine," he said. "A little kid takes it, it's too powerful and it kills him." Herrera and Agricola previously said they believe Herrera was singled out for license revocation because of "OxyContin hysteria" in Gadsden. Herrera said OxyContin-related deaths of children of prominent people who had political connections led to his case. State Sen. Larry Means, D-Attalla, last week said he probably reacted "politically" to the OxyContin deaths after they occurred. Means sponsored legislation to create a dangerous drug database so pharmacies can keep track of and prevent over prescribing powerful painkillers. The Medical Licensure Commission never mentioned OxyContin in its report.