Emergency Room (credit: CBS 2)
NEW YORK (CBS 2/1010 WINS) – An elderly doctor on Staten Island pleaded not guilty to charges of illegally distributing powerful painkillers.
Investigators said 83-year-old Dr. Felix Lanting was operating out of a makeshift medical office at his home in Grant City.
Prosecutors said he wrote more than 3,000 oxycodone prescriptions for money without first examining patients.
Court papers said neighbors were complaining of the comings and goings out of Lanting’s home office since April.
Some of the activity slowed after a family put an ax to his front door when their child overdosed.
Lanting also hired bouncers for protection. However, authorities said the bouncers recruited people to make out on the deal themselves — selling the oxycodone which carried a street value of $3,000 for 180 pills.
Lanting was released Tuesday on $100,000 bond. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.
