Long Island doctor convicted of dealing opioids for cash
Dr. Roya Jafari-Hassad, 58, would prescribe oxycodone to anyone who could pay, according to the Justice Department.
A Long island doctor was convicted Wednesday of handing out oxycodone prescriptions with no concern for patients’ pain — only if they could pay.
Dr. Roya Jafari-Hassad, 58, offered the opioid prescriptions for a price at her practice in Great Neck, the Justice Department said. She was convicted on eight counts of prescribing oxycodone without a legitimate medical purpose.
Jafari-Hassad “was a drug dealer who disgracefully dispensed highly addictive oxycodone pills without any regard for the well-being of the patient but with plenty of interest in their cash,” Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a press release. “Corrupt doctors like this defendant, who value greed over their oath to do no harm, fuel the opioid epidemic.”
An undercover DEA agent, claiming he had pain, obtained ten prescriptions for oxycodone from Jafari-Hassad throughout 2021 and 2022 despite little medical observation, according to the feds. The doctor charged $350 for a 15-day supply and $700 for a 30-day supply, investigators said.
Federal investigators began looking into Jafari-Hassad’s operation in 2019. She was also charged with two counts of witness tampering, but she was acquitted on both counts. The feds failed to prove that Jafari-Hassad pressured patients into not testifying following a 2022 raid on her office.
Defense attorney Bruce Barket told Newsday the doctor’s legal team plans to appeal the conviction, claiming the government set her up. Jafari-Hassad faces up to 20 years in prison on each of the eight counts.
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