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Prosecutors unveiled Thursday charges against five doctors, a pharmacist and associates in New York for allegedly illegally distributing millions of oxycodone tablets and fueled the opioid drug crisis in the country.
The 10 accused, who were arrested during raids in the US financial capital, were accused of having little or no patient screening before prescribing the pills in exchange for large cash payments.
"They were drug traffickers in white coats," said Geoffrey Berman, the US Attorney for Manhattan. "They hid behind their medical licenses to sell dangerous and addictive narcotics," he added.
A doctor with offices in the Bronx and Westchester has been accused of issuing prescriptions for oxycodone in exchange for thousands of dollars, expensive dinners, high-end whiskey, cruises and all-expenses-paid trips.
Another, Dante Cubangbang, 50, and his associates at a Queens clinic, reportedly prescribed more than six million oxycodone tablets, knowing that the recipients had no legitimate medical needs.
Those in the clinic would have collected more than $ 5 million in cash costs. "Part of what drives this epidemic of opioids is an epidemic of drugs," Berman said at a press conference.
"They did it for a very simple reason: greed – they did it for money, expensive meals and gifts," he added.
Carl Anderson, a 57-year-old doctor from Staten Island, often saw patients in the middle of the night, when loud crowds of patients seeking tablets called 911 calls from neighbors, prosecutors said.
Anthony Pietropinto, an 80-year-old manhattan psychiatrist, has prescribed prescriptions for drug addicts, including a patient who has overdosed, they added.
The opioid epidemic has contributed to the first drop in life expectancy at birth in the United States for two consecutive years since the early 1960s, according to the statisticians.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 63,600 people died from an overdose across the country. This equates to an average of 174 Americans a day.
In New York City alone, about 1,500 people died of a drug overdose in 2017, and the majority of deaths involved opioids.
The battery of charges includes the conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
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