L.I. Psychiatrist Accused Of Providing Illicit Anti-Anxiety, ADD Prescriptions
CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A Long Island psychiatrist was charged Tuesday with unlawfully selling prescriptions for Xanax, Ritalin and other controlled substances without any legitimate medical purpose.
Nasreen Kader, 48, of Central Islip, was arraigned Tuesday in Suffolk County Court before Judge Paul Hensley, on 15 counts of criminal sale of a prescription for a controlled substance, the office of New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced.
The Attorney General's office launched an investigation after two families complained that Kader was over-prescribing addictive controlled substances, according to a news release.
A felony case against Kader alleged she prescribed the powerful anti-anxiety tranquilizers Xanax and Klonopin, as well as the stimulant Ritalin – which is used to combat concentration problems such as attention deficit disorder, the release said.
She allegedly offered prescriptions for those drugs to undercover agents posing as patients who sought them for illegitimate purposes, the release said.
"Doctors swear to save lives, and must be stopped if they are found to be feeding the prescription drug addiction epidemic that is devastating families across New York and across our country," Attorney General Schneiderman said in the release. "A drug dealer is a drug dealer, whether they work on the street or inside a doctor's office. We will use every tool at our disposal to bring criminal charges against those who endanger our citizens by fueling dangerous addictions to prescription medications."
The release said the undercover agents came to Kader's office at 228 Carroll Ave. in Ronkonkoma 12 times between August 2012 and September 2013. Each time, she gave the prescriptions for Xanax, Klonopin and Ritalin – all of which are frequently abused – after only brief visits that sometimes lasted a minute or less, prosecutors alleged.
Kader never attempted to conduct a medical history, physical assessment, or psychological evaluation of the patients, prosecutors said.
Kader, who also had an office at 223 Union Ave. in Holbrook, surrendered her license to the state Department of Health Office of Professional Medical Conduct in June, prosecutors said.
If convicted, she could face 5 1/2 years in prison on each count.
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