Opioid-push doc charged in 5 deaths
A Long Island doctor who prescribed lethal amounts of painkillers in parking lots has been charged in the deaths of five of his patients, officials announced on Thursday.
Dr. George Blatti, 75, was arraigned in Nassau County on five counts of second degree murder and 11 counts of reckless endangerment in the first degree in the deaths of Geraldine Sabatasso, Michael Kinzer, Robert Mielinis, Sean Quigley and Diane Woodring, officials said. He faces up to 25 years to life in prison if convicted.
“This doctor’s prescription pad was as lethal as any murder weapon,” said Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas. “We allege that Dr. Blatti showed depraved indifference to human life, total disregarded for the law, his ethical obligations, and the pleas of his patients and their family members when he prescribed massive quantities of dangerous drugs to victims in the throes of addiction, ultimately killing five patients who entrusted him with their care.”
“As we continue to battle the epidemic of opioid abuse that has ravaged our communities, this prosecution sends a strong message to any doctor seeking to profit from vulnerable patients’ addiction: we will hold you accountable to the greatest extent the law allows,” she added.
The Nassau County Police Department began investigating several opioid overdoses in August 2018, Singas said.
That investigation revealed Blatti (photo) had written many of the victims an inordinate number of prescriptions.
Blatti — who had no specialized training in pain management — began meeting patients in his car in the parking lots of a Rockville Centre hotel and a nearby Dunkin’ Donuts after he lost access to his Franklin Square office in 2019, prosecutors said.
Patients who were addicted to opioids frequently went to Blatti to get controlled medications, according to the findings of the grand jury.
The doc would often prescribe drugs without performing an exam or reviewing a person’s medical history — and in some cases, he prescribed drugs to patients he had never met or spoken to, officials said.