Long Island Doc Convicted Of Killing 2 In Overdose Deaths

A Nassau County doctor is facing decades in prison and millions in fines after he was found guilty on Wendesday of killing two of his patients through the illegal prescribing of oxycodone.

Dr. Michael Belfiore, a Westbury resident who operates an office in Merrick, was convicted of two counts of illegal distribution of oxycodone and 26 counts of illegal distribution of oxycodone. Belfiore was remanded into custody after the verdict and is awaiting sentencing. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in jail, a $10 million fine and an additional forfeiture, which the court will decide.

“Dr. Belfiore was acting not as a healer, but as a drug dealer with a prescription pad,” United States Attorney Richard Donoghue sad in a statement. “[Belfiore] lined his pockets with cash from patients in exchange for illegally prescribing oxycodone, a particularly dangerous and addictive drug, with lethal results. The Department of Justice recognizes the importance of holding corrupt medical professionals like Dr. Belfiore accountable for their role in fueling the opioid epidemic.”

Belfiore, out of his Merrick office, doled out oxycodone prescriptions for money, prosecutors say. Oxycodone is a scheduled controlled substance because of how potent it is, especially when it is crushed. Doctors are only allowed to prescribe it to patients who suffer from significant pain, and only after tests prove there is a need for it. It is usually prescribed in 5 milligram tablets, but Belfiore wrote thousands of prescriptions for 30 milligram tablets, in quantities up to 180 pills per month.

On Feb. 28, 2013, Belfiore illegally prescribed 120 30-milligram tablets to 42-year-old Edward Martin. On March 5, Martin overdosed on the pills and died in his bed. On April 12, 2013, Belfiore prescribed 150 30-milligram pills to 32-year-old John Ubaghs, a Uninted States Marine Corps veteran. The next day, Ubaghs overdosed on the pills and died.

Between March and August 2013, prosecutors say that Belfiore wrote six illegal prescriptions of oxycodone to an undercover Nassau County detective. Video showed that Belfiore created make medical charts to justify the prescriptions.

“From the time he was arrested to today’s conviction, it was abundantly clear that Dr. Belfiore’s actions were not those of a medical doctor, but those of a drug dealer,” DEA Special Agent-in-Charge James Hunt said. “Lives were lost at the hands of Dr. Belfiore, whose practice enabled addiction and overdose – both of which contribute to the current opioid crisis our nation is facing."

Photo: Shutterstock