Great Neck, N.Y.-based Roya Jafari-Hassad, MD, was charged with 18 counts for illegal opioid distribution and witness tampering, the U.S. Justice Department said Dec. 14.
Dr. Jafari-Hassad was arrested Dec. 14 for running an alleged pill mill, where she provided monthly oxycodone prescriptions to patients for hundreds of dollars in cash from her medical office.
These illegal oxycodone prescriptions had no legitimate medical purpose, the report said. She made an estimated hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in cash solely from payments from patients and also billed the patients' insurance for services that never occurred.
Dr. Jafari-Hassad prescribed oxycodone with no legitimate medical purpose to an undercover agent at every visit, which took place over a yearlong period. After a search warrant was executed at her medical offices, Dr. Jafari-Hassad allegedly reached out to patients to attempt to convince them to alter their testimonies.