Pediatrician, Three Pharmacists Indicted on Illegal Distribution of Oxycodone

Sarasota, FL (WorkersCompensation.com) – When you visit your family doctor or your child’s pediatrician, you like to believe you’re in a safe place. However, according to a recent report from the Eastern District of New York Department of Justice involving 1.2 million illegally distributed Oxycodone pills, that may not always be the case.

According to the recent news release, eight defendants have been charged for their roles in an extensive case involving illegal distribution of Oxycodone as well as money laundering between December 2018 and October 2022. The alleged activity took place in close proximity to a junior high school, a charter school and a family academy in Brooklyn, New York. The defendants could be facing up to 20 years each for the drug charges, and up to 20 years each for related money laundering charges.

Somsri Ratanaprsatporn, MD operated Linden Medical Associates located in Brooklyn. Originally a medical school graduate of Chiang Mai University in Thailand in 1969, Ratanaprsatporn specializes in Family Medicine and Pediatrics. According to the indictment, officials allege that Ratanaprsatporn, with the help of her office manager Leticia Smith, wrote over 11,000 prescriptions medically unnecessary prescriptions for Oxycodone. Those prescriptions were then filled by pharmacists Bassam Amin, Yousef Ennab, and Yousef Ennab at pharmacies in the area. Investigators estimate the street value of the 1.2 pills at over $24 Million.

In addition to the assistance of the pharmacists, investigators allege that defendants Raymond Walker, Anthony Mathis, Michael Kent managed a ring of fake patients who generated income and received the ill-gotten drugs in exchange. Investigators assert that the ring of patients allowed the defendants to make millions of dollars in the scheme as the drugs were distributed.

In addition to the drug charges, Smith and Kent have also been charged with money laundering in their suspected attempts to cover up to hide the money made from the drug distributions.

According to the release, in 2020 more than 16,000 Americans have died from prescription opioid overdoses. According to data from the United States Sentencing Commission, 59.1 percent of sentenced drug traffickers have had little or no previous criminal history. In 2021 there were 210 Oxycodone trafficking offenders that accounted for 1.2 percent of all sentenced drug trafficking cases. The number of Oxycodone drug traffickers has decreased by 61.9 percent since 2017.

What is curious about this case is that like many other physician drug charge cases, Ratanaprsatporn is well over retirement age. Additionally, she apparently has had a good rapport with patients according to reviews. On the surface, this doesn’t appear to be a physician that would be tied up in illegal drug distribution however, according to investigations from the last few years such impressions are often the case.

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