Doc Charged in Oxycodone Death on One Side of the Hudson Found Dead on the Other

The death of an accused pill-pushing doctor in Monroe, NY adds a new dimension to the case of a wide-ranging Hudson Valley opiod drug ring.

The case blew open after a teacher died in 2015 from an overdose of oxycodone and alprazolam, and authorities alleged his death was connected with an operation run by a doctor who wrote thousands of medically unnecessary and phony prescriptions for painkillers, and a confederate who sold them.

“Unscrupulous healthcare professionals like Doctor Alfred Ramirez, who is alleged to have prescribed over 10,000 medically unnecessary oxycodone pills over a four-year period, and his alleged distributor, James Cooney, fuel this epidemic of poison by prescription,” said U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in 2015.

The teacher was a Yonkers resident, as was the accused seller. The accused doc, a psychiatrist with a practice in Orange and Dutchess counties. The long list of investigating law enforcement agencies included the Westchester County Police Department, the Town of Orangetown Police Department, the Town of Woodbury Police Department and the Westchester County Department of Public Safety.

Oxycodone is a prescription-strength Schedule II narcotic used to treat severe and chronic pain conditions. Oxycodone can result in addiction similar to an addiction to codeine or morphine, and there is a massive illegal market for oxycodone. Heroin has become a cheaper substitute.

Ramirez had pleaded not guilty to the federal drug and conspiracy charges and had been on house arrest awaiting trial. He was 78.

Police went to his house when his ankle bracelet stopped transmitting information, the Times Herald Record reported. No foul play was suspected.