Authorities have announced that a doctor and his son have been charged for operating a family-run pharmaceutical business in New York. This has been characterized as a significant misuse of medical authority aimed at illegally distributing prescription medications.
As stated by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the doctor supposedly issued fraudulent prescriptions for highly addictive substances over a span of three months in 2022, all without ever consulting the patients. Meanwhile, his son allegedly handled the transactions, finding buyers and collecting funds.
The duo is reported to have distributed various drugs, including well-known medications like Percocet, Adderall, and Xanax.
Dr. Richard Taubman, a 71-year-old retired physician, along with his 33-year-old son Eric Taubman, turned themselves in to the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office after a lengthy investigation that lasted several years.
Farhana Islam, the special agent leading the DEA’s New York division, commented on the case, stating that prioritizing profit over public health is not just reckless but deeply immoral. She emphasized that medical professionals should aim to protect their patients rather than endanger them.
The father, previously an obstetrician-gynecologist in Great Neck, returned to practice at the Non-Surgical Weight Loss Center in Islandia, Suffolk County, in early 2022, according to DEA records.
Between April 5 and June 29, 2022, investigators claim Taubman wrote numerous prescriptions for controlled substances without a legitimate medical rationale.
Officials assert that he sent these prescriptions electronically from his home in Glen Head to various pharmacies across Queens.
Separately, the son is accused of supplying his father with personal details about friends and acquaintances and requests for medications.
After several pharmacists reported suspicious activities, the DEA announced that the father’s prescription license was revoked about a month later.
The investigation uncovered that some recipients of these prescriptions might have further distributed the drugs, selling them for profit, trading them for cash or other substances, or using them themselves.
Both father and son appeared in court on Thursday, pleading not guilty to multiple charges, including 23 counts related to unlawfully selling or attempting to sell pharmaceutical prescriptions, as well as one count of conspiracy to commit this offense.
If found guilty, Dr. Taubman could face up to five and a half years behind bars.
