Nassau Doc Prescribed Pain Pills To Drug Dealer: Prosecutors

ROSLYN, NY — A Roslyn doctor has been arrested and faces federal drug charges after prosecutors say he doled out oxycodone prescriptions without a legitimate medical purpose. Tameshwar Ammar, 51, of Amityville, was arrested Thursday morning, federal prosecutors announced. He was expected to appear in a Central Islip courtroom Thursday afternoon.

A woman who answered the phone at Age Management Associates in Roslyn told Patch on Thursday that Ammar runs the practice. The practice didn't immediately comment on the accusations.

For six years beginning in 2013, Ammar unlwfully prescribed more than 19,000 highly addictive oxycodone pills to two people, authorities said. Ammar’s medical files showed the prescriptions were provided without any diagnostic proof that either had a legitimate medical necessity.

Ammar prescribed about 8,400 pills to one of them knowing he planned to resell them to others, prosecutors said. Ammar wrote prescriptions for more than 11,000 pills to the second individual. Even after learning that the second person was admitted to a mental health facility in March 2018, Ammar continued writing prescriptions so he could obtain oxycodone and methadone. The second person died of a drug overdose in July caused by oxycodone, methadone and ketamine.

Authorities found ketamine at Ammar's office in October 2017.

"As alleged, Ammar prescribed thousands of highly addictive opioids without a legitimate medical purpose, which makes him a drug dealer and, sadly, in this case one of his customers lost their life," Richard Donoghue, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in a news release.

Ray Donovan, special agent-in-charge at the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, said Ammar's medical practice paved a path for opioid addiction and overdoses.

"The fact that Dr. Ammar prescribed over 8,000 oxycodone pills to one patient for street resale shows his disregard to public health and safety, which are both a good doctor's main concerns," Donovan said.

If convicted, Ammar faces up to two decades behind bars.