Former New York physician Frank Parasmo, MD, was sentenced to three years in prison on 32 counts of unlawfully distributing oxycodone, the Justice Department said May 25.
Between January 2014 and February 2015, Dr. Parasmo prescribed oxycodone and hydrocodone to 18 of his patients, some of whom had just left detox treatment or were recently discharged from a hospital following an overdose, the department said. He continued to write prescriptions for some patients he'd been warned may be reselling them or were not taking them as prescribed.
From 2010 to 2015, Dr. Parasmo prescribed more than 1.5 million oxycodone and hydrocodone pills, making him one of the top prescribers of those drugs statewide, the department said. After learning he was under DEA investigation, Dr. Parasmo cut his oxycodone prescription issuances by half.