By The Diary
A doctor and his son were accused of illegally operating a “prescription factory” that prescribed oxycodone, Xanax and other controlled substances, the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office on Long Island (NY) announced on Thursday.
Richard Taubman 71-year-old retired gynecologist and obstetrician, and his son Eric Taubman (33) face multiple felony charges, including criminal sale of prescriptions for controlled substances, attempted criminal sale of prescriptions and conspiracy, reported PIX11 Info. The two would have sold dozens of recipes for opioids, amphetamines and benzodiazepines without a legitimate medical purpose, said Anne T. Donnelly, district attorney.
The DEA received several tips from pharmacists in Queens (NYC). Callers expressed concern regarding a number of prescriptions for opioids and controlled substances issued by Dr. Taubman, who He was retired and resumed medical practice at a weight loss center in 2022. Taubman’s authority to prescribe controlled substances was revoked, according to court documents.
“They allegedly operated a local distribution center for controlled substances,” stated Prosecutor Donnelly in a statement. “By allegedly treating high-potency opioids, amphetamines, and benzodiazepines as casual favors for friends, these defendants demonstrated a disturbing disregard for the reality of the ongoing substance abuse crisis and betrayed the community’s trust. I want to thank the DEA for its tireless work in our joint investigation to dismantle this operation. My office is committed to holding accountable any individual who puts profit before the health and safety of others.”
The DEA and the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office conducted a joint investigation, which included multiple interviews, requests for pharmacy records, and other evidence. Authorities say that, over the course of a few months, Dr. Taubman allegedly issued dozens of prescriptions for controlled substances to multiple individuals without a medical purpose and outside the scope of his professional practice.
Apparently His son would have acted as an intermediary between his father and potential patients. The prescriptions that Dr. Taubman allegedly issued were later sent to various pharmacies in Queens, without even taking a complete medical history, according to the investigation. Meanwhile, The patients allegedly paid the son for the fake prescriptions, including hundreds of Percocet, Adderall and Xanax pills.
The accusedThey appeared in court Thursday and pleaded “not guilty.” They were released on personal recognizance and are due back in court on May 7. If convicted, they face sentences of between 5 and 12 years in prison.
The Taubmans have not commented to the press. All charges are mere accusations and those charged are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.
In 2024, Dr. George Blatti was sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to overprescribing painkillers and causing the deaths of five people while he was a doctor on Long Island (NY).
In December 2023, urologist Francis Martinis and his wife Jessica Martinis, who appeared in the truth TV series from the Bravo channel “Below Deck”were indicted on drug charges in New York for allegedly writing fake opioid prescriptions using the names of other members of the show’s cast.
In January 2023, Marc Laruelle, a doctor from White Plains (NY), was sentenced to four years in prison in Giant Apple Federal Court after pleading guilty to prescribing more than 100,000 doses of highly addictive opioids for resale on the underground market. Months earlier, Dr. William Spencer, a physician and former Democratic Party legislator in Suffolk County (Long Island, NY), admitted to exchanging prescription pills for sexual favors with prostitutes and lying to investigators in an attempted cover-up.
In a similar case, in 2022 Dr. Elizabeth Johnson – an emergency room doctor in Hoboken (NJ) – and her roommate Serge Corporan were arrested and charged with several counts of drug trafficking. Previously, in late 2020, Dr. Joseph Santiamo, a doctor practicing in Staten Island (NYC), admitted to soliciting sexual favors from young patients in exchange for prescribing opioids, federal authorities announced.
And in another sting operation, psychiatrist Dr. Leon Valbrun and physician assistant Po Yu Yen were arrested in 2020 for illegally prescribing highly addictive drugs without a legitimate medical purpose, in exchange for cash at Giant apple (NYC).
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