Doctor Charged with Manslaughter, Endangerment and Fraud

A New York City doctor, S.L., has been indicted in State Supreme Court on 218 counts for accusations involving the illegal sale of prescription drugs. He is accused of basically conducting a cash-for-painkillers operation out of his Queens office. Investigators with New York City's special narcotics task force and prosecutor got on the case after it was discovered that two people who died of prescription drug overdoses had obtained prescriptions from S.L. One man was found dead in his apartment while another was found deceased in his vehicle. Investigators followed up on the doctor listed on the deceased men's prescription bottles and discovered that S.L. ran a weekend "pain-management clinic" and only accepted cash. Some people who went to see him claim that they could get prescriptions for whatever they wanted as long as they had the right amount of cash. The parents of one patient say that S.L. gave their son powerful pain killers even after the patient had told the doctor that he was a recovering drug addict. They also claim that they contacted S.L. and begged him not to prescribe any drugs to their son but their plea was allegedly disregarded. The doctor is charged with illegally selling prescriptions for OxyContin, Xanax and other powerful opiates and tranquilizers as well as committing numerous counts of Medicare fraud and insurance fraud. S.L.'s defense attorney has maintained that the doctor did not intentionally prescribe drugs to anyone attempting to obtain drugs fraudulently or without an alleged need for the drug. He has been charged with two counts of second degree manslaughter, seven counts of reckless endangerment and 180 counts of selling narcotic prescriptions illegally. If convicted of all charges he faces the possibility of up to 15 years in state prison. Make sure you have the help of a skilled criminal defense lawyer if you have been charged with a felony offense!

Are you facing serious criminal charges?

Manslaughter is a serious felony and although not punished as severely as murder, it is still considered a violent crime with major repercussion should you be convicted. Contact the law offices of Hochheiser & Hochheiser LLP today to schedule a free case evaluation and find out what we may be able to do to fight the charges against you. We have successfully defended clients in the New York City area who have been accused of felony crimes such as homicide, drug crimes, theft offenses (including fraud) and many others.