Federal Agents Arrest Long Island Doctor In Ongoing Painkiller Prescription Crackdown
CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A Long Island doctor was arrested Wednesday on charges he illegally distributed thousands of painkillers to people who didn't need them.
As WCBS 880's Irene Cornell reported, Dr. Michael Randall is the latest physician to be arrested in the federal and state crackdown on doctors who illegally pedal painkillers.
Federal Agents Arrest Long Island Doctor In Ongoing Painkiller Prescription Crackdown
According to the complaint unsealed in Brooklyn Federal Court, Randall's Middle Country Family Medical practice in Centereach, Long Island wrote hundreds of prescriptions involving thousands of pills.
Oxycodone, methadone, and other addictive painkillers were prescribed for patients who had no legitimate medical need for the drugs, Cornell reported.
Jamie Hunt, acting special agent in charge of the New York office of the Drug Enforcement Agency, said the arrest comes at a time when the adverse consequences of prescription drug abuse, including theft, threats, violence, addiction, and overdose deaths, are all on the rise throughout the country.
Defense attorney Glenn Obedin said his client is shocked by the allegations and would fight the charges.
A federal probe of painkiller abuse has led to charges against 15 New York health care professionals since 2012.
The crackdown started in the aftermath of a June 2011 Long Island pharmacy robbery in which two customers and two employees were killed by a man addicted to painkillers.
Check Out These Other Stories From CBSNewYork.com:
(TM and © Copyright 2014 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2014 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
