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Officials announced Thursday that a doctor and his son have been accused of operating a family-run pill mill in New York, in what authorities describe as a brazen abuse of medical authority to fuel the illegal distribution of prescription drugs.
Over a roughly three-month period in 2022, the physician allegedly wrote fraudulent prescriptions for highly addictive medications without ever examining patients, while his son found buyers and collected payments as part of the scheme, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
Authorities say the pair distributed a wide range of drugs, including those commonly known as Percocet, Adderall and Xanax.
Dr. Richard Taubman, a 71-year-old retired physician, and his 33-year-old son, Eric Taubman, surrendered Thursday to investigators with the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office following an extensive, multi-year joint investigation.
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“Their alleged scheme to unlawfully distribute controlled substance prescriptions, placing profits above public health, is not only reckless and dangerous, but unconscionable,” DEA New York Enforcement Division Special Agent in Charge Farhana Islam said in a statement.
“Medical professionals are entrusted with protecting patients’ lives, not destroying them by exploiting them to addiction and harm.”
According to the DEA, the father is a retired obstetrician-gynecologist from Great Neck who returned to practice at a non-surgical weight loss center in Islandia, in Suffolk County, in early 2022.
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Investigators allege that between April 5 and June 29, 2022, Taubman wrote dozens of prescriptions for controlled substances for multiple individuals without a legitimate medical purpose and outside the course of his practice.
He also submitted the prescriptions electronically from his home in Glen Head to pharmacies across Queens, officials further alleged.
Separately, the son allegedly provided the father with the personal information and drug requests of friends and acquaintances.
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Numerous reports from pharmacist employees soon flooded the DEA, and the agency said the father’s prescription license was stripped roughly one month later.
The investigation also revealed that some individuals allegedly circulated the drugs even further, selling them for profit, trading them for cash and other drugs, or simply using them.
The father and son turned themselves in on Thursday and pleaded not guilty to multiple charges.
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They are specifically charged with 23 counts of illegally selling or trying to sell drug prescriptions, along with one count of illegally teaming up to carry out this scheme.
If convicted, they face up to five and a half years in prison.