A longtime Nassau County doctor has been ordered to close his practice and surrender his license for overprescribing highly addictive painkillers, according to court documents.
A Team 12 investigation found that Alan Nelson, of East Norwich, repeatedly prescribed at least 92,700 milligrams of oxycodone to a single patient between 2020 and 2021 without a legitimate medical purpose. . Nelson admitted he knew it was wrong, according to court documents.
The disgraced doctor had been practicing medicine for nearly 50 years. His East Norwich office on Oyster Bay Road is currently closed and rented.
Nelson was forced to end his medical career. The New York State Department of Health requested that Nelson surrender his medical license at the end of April.
Nelson pleaded guilty to one count of illegally distributing oxycodone, but federal prosecutors believe he illegally provided controlled substances to at least 14 other patients. He was sentenced to six months in prison, three years of supervised release, six months of home confinement, and must pay a $20,000 fine.
The former doctor’s conviction is another example of how federal agents are cracking down on the opioid crisis, but it also shows that even with all the new regulations in place, some doctors are still circumventing the law. This shows that opioids can be illegally distributed by
Advocates for people with substance use disorders said doctors have a responsibility to protect their communities and not fuel the opioid epidemic, which remains the worst drug crisis in the nation’s history.
Steve Chasman, executive director of the Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drugs, said: “Too many families on Long Island, New York and America have lost loved ones in the aftermath of this tragedy, so we need to continue the pressure from unscrupulous prescribers. There is a need to do so.” Dependency (LICADD). “We will not only stop these unscrupulous players from distributing lethal doses of opioids, but also ensure that they have their licenses revoked and prosecuted.”
