Podiatrist arrested for fraudulently selling prescriptions (New York)
A Long Island podiatrist was arrested and charged with writing and filling fraudulent prescriptions for painkillers and other drugs for personal use and resale for profit, Nassau County prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said, the podiatrist , was carrying a loaded .380-caliber handgun when he was arrested in a Port Washington school parking lot where he was about to exchange illicit prescription drugs with another man.
Disticty Attorney Kathleen Rice said "[the podiatrist] has violated the community's trust by abusing his position as a doctor,". "His actions are no different from a drug dealer on the street corner looking to poison our children, feed addictions, and ruin lives."
The podiatrist obtained large quantities of oxycodone, hydrocodone, Xanax, Klonopin Vicodin, and by writing out prescription slips in the names of non patients and his family members, authorities said. The doctor then filled the prescriptions at nine pharmacies in Nassau County, Queens and Brooklyn, Rice's office said.
Rice's statemetn said "He would then either use the pills himself, or sell them,"
"Family members and non patients told investigators that they were unaware of prescriptions written in their names and that they had never received the medication."
Prosecutors said that the podiatrist had gone to the Port Washington lot to provide the other man with five Klonopin pills in trade for 100 pills each of methadone and hydrocodone. Authorities said the podiatrists' handgun was found in a search by Drug Enforcement Agency investigators who arrested both men.
Newsday- February 26, 2009
He faces several drug possession and sale charges, along with one count of criminal possession of a loaded weapon. Arraignment was scheduled for Thursday with another court date set for Monday. He could not be reached for comment Thursday at his office where the phone rang unanswered.
John P. Gilbride, special agent in charge of the New York Field Division of the DEA, said in a statement, "As prescription drug abuse rises, law enforcement has been focused on weeding out those responsible for distributing illegally diverted drugs by those hiding under physician's jackets."
