A former Mineola, N.Y., physician has been sentenced to five to 15 years in prison for his role in overprescribing opioids that killed five patients, CBS News New York reported Jan. 22.
George Blatti, MD, sold nearly 2 million opioid and amphetamine prescriptions for cash, according to the report. He allegedly ignored repeated warnings from pharmacists and payers and prescribed large amounts of opioids and other drugs to his patients.
Dr. Blatti is the first physician in the state to be charged with murder in the second degree under the theory of depraved indifference to human life. The charge was later reduced to five counts of manslaughter in 2021.
He would sign prescriptions in his car and then sell them out of a makeshift office, according to the report. Patients would line up at his car and get in the passenger seat to purchase the prescriptions.