Larchmont Doc Admits To Selling Oxycodone Scripts For Cash

LARCHMONT, NY — A Westchester physician whose greed helped to destroy lives in the face of a nationwide opioid epidemic will now face justice.

Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Naomi Gruchacz, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, announced that 71-year-old Mordechai Bar, of Larchmont, pled guilty on Monday to one count of illicitly distributing and dispensing oxycodone and other controlled substances.

"Dr. Mordechai Bar hid behind his medical license while he prescribed oxycodone without a legitimate medical need," Williams said. "Like any drug dealer, he pumped highly addictive substances into the streets for profit, with no regard for the impact on the community. Along with our law enforcement partners, we will continue to aggresively prosecute physicians who help fuel the opioid crisis."

SEE ALSO: Feds Charge Larchmont Doc With Selling Oxycodone Scripts For Cash

According to court documents, between January 2023 and June 2024, Bar, an internal medicine physician, repeatedly prescribed oxycodone without a legitimate medical reason and outside of the usual course of medical practice.

Oxycodone is a highly addictive opioid that is used to treat severe and chronic pain, in addition to pain associated with certain types of cancer and other terminal diseases. Due to its demand, oxycodone prescriptions earn high prices in the black market.

Bar often prescribed oxycodone in combination with amphetamines and/or alprazolam, controlled substances that are also abused and resold illegally. He sold these prescriptions for cash, without performing physical exams or medical tests on the patients in whose names the prescriptions were issued.

Bar pled guilty to one count of distributing oxycodone and other controlled substances, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in jail. He is scheduled to be sentenced on February 18, 2025.

"This physician accepts responsibility for illegally prescribing controlled substances, an action that is especially egregious given the ongoing opioid epidemic" Gruchacz said. "HHS-OIG will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to ensure individuals involved in fraud schemes that exploit federal health care programs and threaten patient safety are held accountable."

Williams praised the efforts of the DEA, HHS-OIG, the FBI, IRS-CI, and the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force New York Strike Force. He also thanked the NYS Department of Health Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement for their assistance in this case.

The case is being handled by the Office’s White Plains Division, with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jorja N. Knauer, David A. Markewitz, and Kathryn Wheelock in charge of the prosecution.