N.Y. Doctor Tameshwar Ammar Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison for Conspiring to Illegally Distribute Oxycodone
- The Indian American, who was indicted in November 2019, relinquished his license to practice medicine in June last year.
An Indian American doctor from Long Island, New York, has been sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for conspiring to illegally prescribe pain medication. Last July, Tameshwar Ammar of Roslyn, pleaded guilty to wrongfully distributing Oxycodone to two of his patients. Ammar, who was indicted in November 2019, relinquished his license to practice medicine. on June 22, 2020.
A Department of Justice press release, citing court filings, said that between 2013 and 2019, Ammar illegally prescribed thousands of highly addictive Oxycodone pills to two individuals identified in the indictment as John Doe 1 and John Doe 2. A review of Ammar’s medical files for the two individuals revealed that the doctor wrote the prescriptions “without any diagnostic proof of legitimate medical need,” the press release said.
Ammar prescribed Oxycodone pills to John Doe 1, knowing that he intended to sell the pills to others. In addition, Ammar continued to prescribe Oxycodone pills and methadone to John Doe 2, even after learning that he had been admitted to a psychiatric facility in March 2018. In July 2019, John Doe 2 died of a drug overdose caused by Oxycodone, Methadone and Ketamine.
As part of his sentence, Ammar has agreed to forfeit $245,700 in criminal proceeds.
Jacquelyn M. Kasulis, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and Ray Donovan, Special Agent-in-Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration, New York Division (DEA), announced Ammar’s sentence. “Today’s sentence sends a stern warning that doctors who decide to betray their Hippocratic oaths by acting as profit-seeking drug dealers will face severe consequences,” Kasulis said.