Doctor Who Lives in Oxford Charged With Writing Illegal Prescriptions

A Trumbull doctor who lives in Oxford has been charged with illegally writing prescriptions for powerful narcotic painkillers to drug abusers, according to the Associated Press, which cites its information from a Connecticut Post article.

Dr. Donald Austrian, a 57-year-old internist who was also charged with abusing the drugs himself, was arrested Wednesday at his home on Hart Court by a special task force of local police and members of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, according to the Connecticut Post article. He was charged with 18 counts of illegally dispensing and selling prescriptions; he was later released after posting a $50,000 bond. Efforts to reach the doctor were not immediately successful.

A spokesman for Bridgeport Hospital says Austrian's privileges there have been suspended, according to the Connecticut Post article.

An investigation was launched in 2008 in response to a complaint that Austrian was selling Oxycodone to a man who he knew was addicted to drugs; authorities say Austrian sold painkillers to a cooperating witness during a subsequent sting, the Connecticut Post article states.

Read the full story on the Connecticut Post website here.