DA: Massapequa MD sold opiate prescriptions near school

A Massapequa physician known by the friendly moniker "Dr. Frank" was accused Wednesday of contributing to an ongoing epidemic of opiate addiction on Long Island by selling prescriptions for pills such as oxycodone from his office near Massapequa High School.

On Tuesday, Nassau police raided Dr. Saji Francis' decade-old solo practice at 4999 Merrick Rd., seizing stacks of prescription pads, account records and nearly $7,000 in cash.

Francis, 49, of 4 Legends Circle in Melville, was charged with nine counts of felony criminal sale of prescriptions. He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Wednesday at First District Court in Hempstead and was released after posting $180,000 bond or $90,000 cash bail.

"One of the reasons we think we have a problem in Massapequa is related to this particular doctor that was busted," said Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi. "We have information that . . . [young people] would go out, buy the prescription from the doctor, then you'd see them go to the car and start high-fiving each other because they just got a prescription for opiates from Dr. Frank."

A message left for officials at the Massapequa school district was not returned. Police say there is no indication that any of Francis' customers were Massapequa High School students.

Det. Lt. Andrew Fal of Nassau's narcotics/vice squad said the name "Dr. Frank" came up in interviews with drug suspects more than a year ago. It was only last summer, when a distraught mother of a young man with a heroin addiction called police and reported that Francis had sold prescriptions to her son, that he was identified.

After an initial referral by an undercover informant, Fal said, detectives and an informant paid between $480 and $600 for 90-pill prescriptions for oxycodone, Vicodin and other opiates between Sept. 1 and Tuesday. "There was no physical exam, no blood drawn, no analysis of a problem or even a statement of a problem," Fal said. All the fake patients had to do, Fal said, was state that "I feel bad when I don't have the pills."

Nassau police Wednesday showed a surveillance video of Francis, dressed in a tweed jacket and stethoscope draped over his neck, seated at a desk. In the video, an undercover officer asks for "Oxy 30s," a reference to 30 mg pills of oxycodone - a highly addictive opiate painkiller - before counting out $500 in $20 bills. "Thanks, doc. You doing all right?" the undercover officer asks before leaving with a prescription. The pills would be worth about $2,700 on the street, police said.

Francis, the married father of five children, received a medical degree from the University of Calicut in Kerala, India, in 1988 and a certification for internal medicine from Jamaica Hospital in 1997, according to the state Department of Health. He was certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in 1997.

Francis' attorney, Thomas McCullough of Queens, said his client "has had a very difficult 24 hours and we're now going to address the charges."

Francis has made no malpractice suit payouts and has never been disciplined, according to Health Department spokesman Jeffery Hammond. Hammond said the department "would have an interest in any physician convicted of a crime."

Police said Francis admitted to having 40 or so pill customers over the past six months. Surveillance and an initial review of records indicate he had many legitimate patients, many of whom are elderly.