Glen Head resident Dr. Richard Taubman, son charged with illegally selling prescription drugs

A retired Gold Coast gynecologist and his son were arrested Thursday and charged in Nassau County District Court with 24 counts related to the illegal sale of Percocet, Xanax and Adderall.

Richard Taubman, 71, and his son, Eric Taubman, 38, both of Glen Head, pleaded not guilty in front of Judge William Bodkin at a noon arraignment and were released without bail.

Prosecutors said the son would send his father a list of names and drug orders between April 5 and June 29, 2022, and the father would electronically send in the prescription requests to various pharmacies in Queens. Eric Taubman would then get paid by his friends who had requested the drugs.

Prosecutors said the doctor never conducted any physical exams related to the prescriptions.

The Drug Enforcement Administration started receiving tips from workers in pharmacies around Queens, suspicious about the number of opioid prescriptions Richard Taubman was sending in.

The doctor retired from his private practice treating women in Great Neck and had begun working in a nonmedical weight-loss clinic in Islandia in 2022 when the alleged crimes occurred, according to authorities.

Nassau County investigators, working with the federal drug agency, conducted a multiyear investigation and found the ill-gotten pharmaceuticals were either used by the requester, sold for cash or traded for other drugs.

"By allegedly treating high-potency opioids, amphetamines, and benzodiazepines like casual favors for friends, these defendants demonstrated an unsettling disregard for the realities of the ongoing substance abuse crisis and betrayed the community’s trust," Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said in a statement.

The Taubmans' attorney, Vincent Bianco, said during the hearing that the doctor is no longer practicing medicine. There’s no disciplinary record available for Taubman with the state Office of Professional Conduct. Prosecutors said he has been suspended from writing prescriptions.

Bianco noted the crimes alleged were four years old and said the father and son are cooperating with authorities.

He noted they turned themselves in Thursday morning. The father and son, and their lawyer, declined to comment on the charges after the hearing.

Their next court date is May 7.