LI-Based Doctor Charged With Selling Opiate Prescriptions: DEA

A Franklin Square-based doctor, along with two of his employees, were arrested on Thursday by the DEA and charged with selling medically unnecessary prescriptions for oxycodone and fentanyl — two strong opiate painkillers.

Ernesto Lopez, Sharon Washington-Bhamre and Audra Baker were all arrested yesterday and charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. Lopez, of Flushing, has clinics in Franklin Square, Manhattan and Jackson Heights.

"At the same time that cartels are pushing fentanyl on opioid users, this investigation identified a rogue doctor following suit," said DEA Special Agent in Charge James J. Hunt. "With offices strategically located in Nassau County, Manhattan and Queens, Dr. Lopez allegedly wrote unnecessary prescriptions for oxycodone and fentanyl worth millions of dollars on the street. I commend our law enforcement partners for their diligent hard work on this investigation.” Hunt added that the Nassau County District Attorney's office and the Nassau County Police Department helped secure the arrests.

From 2015 until October 2017, Lopez operated three medical clinics where officials say he wrote thousands of prescriptions for large quantities of oxycodone and fentanyl patches in exchange for cash payments. Baker assisted Lopez in operating two of his medical offices, according to the DEA. Lopez typically charged $200 to $300 in cash for “patient visits,” officials say, where he performed no meaningful physical examination of patients. Instead, according to the DEA, a typical “patient visit” consisted primarily of recording a patient’s vital signs and sometimes involved the brief movement of a patient’s limbs. Lopez then prescribed large quantities of oxycodone, most frequently 120 30-milligram tablets, and fentanyl patches, officials say.

From January 2015 to now, the DEA says Lopez wrote more than 8,000 oxycodone prescriptions, resulting in an estimated $2 million in fees to Lopez. The DEA says Baker assisted Lopez in the diversion of oxycodone and fentanyl. For example, the DEA says Baker steered at least one patient to a particular individual, so that they could purchase that individual’s oxycodone prescriptions and resell the drugs on the street.

According to the DEA, a 30-milligram tablet of oxycodone can go for as much as $30 on the street, giving a full prescription a value of about $2,400.

From December 2015 until October 2017, the DEA says that Washington-Bhamre, a pediatric nurse practitioner, wrote scores of medically unnecessary oxycodone prescriptions. During this time, Washington-Bhamre wrote oxycodone prescriptions in the names of individuals provided to her without performing any examination of the purported patients, the DEA says.

Lopez, Baker and Washington-Bhamre could each face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Photo: DEA