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New York Doctor Head Of Oxycodone Ring

A New York City doctor has been charged in a scheme that allegedly distributed $10 million worth ofoxycodone pills.

“Well over half a million oxycodone pills were illegally sold in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, fueling the addiction of an untold number of people,” said Bridget Brennan, New York City’s special narcotics prosecutor.

Dr. Hector Castro, his office manager Patricia Valera and four dozen others were charged with running what the Drug Enforcement Administration called an “extensive interstate network of narcotics traffickers” responsible for the illegal distribution of a half million oxycodone pills worth at least $10 million.

Between September 2011 and February 2013 court records say New Jersey pharmacies dispensed nearly 500,000 pills of oxycodone based on thousands of prescriptions originating from Castro’s Manhattan office. In contrast, New York pharmacies dispensed approximately 75,000 pills based on approximately 600 similar prescriptions between August 2009 and January 2013.

The investigation into Castro’s alleged prescription sales began in late 2011 when an individual suffered a fatal oxycodone overdose in Middlesex, N.J., and authorities discovered a pill bottle with Castro’s name on the label at the scene. The deceased individual had received a prescription from Castro just a day earlier, authorities said.  (full story on ABC)

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