The order class is mandatory for HibernateOrderDAO.getActiveOrders(...) since we create the criteria out of it. 
Looking at the comments on the ticket, and based on design discussions that I was part of, I was assuming there should be only one active order per orderable (which I assumed to be specific per care setting, since we should not discontinue an order that has been ordered as part of a different care setting). Is this not the case?