Doctor's arrest shines spotlight on LI drug woes

The arrest of a Massapequa physician accused of selling prescriptions for oxycodone and other painkillers to people as young as 18 has again focused attention on a community that has been among the most affected by a wave of heroin and other opiates that experts say continues to flood Long Island.

Police have made 32 arrests so far this year for heroin possession and sale in Massapequa, the most in any community in Nassau County. Hempstead and Elmont, with 28 and 23 arrests, were next, according to Nassau police statistics.

Det. Lt. Andrew Fal of the department's narcotics/vice squad cautioned against reading too much into the statistic, saying Massapequa's high arrest numbers reflect the attention by narcotics detectives rather than a community-specific problem.

"We're seeing it in Seaford, in Wantagh, Bellmore, Levittown, all over," Fal said. Heroin and opiate pills "are out there and they're all over." There have been 349 misdemeanor and felony heroin arrests in the county this year, up from 201 last year.

Police said the proximity of Francis' office to Massapequa High School was a concern, but there was no sign any of his customers were students. A Nassau prosecutor said at the doctor's arraignment in Hempstead Wednesday students there were aware pills were available.

At a news news conference attended by representatives from a newly formed anti-heroin community group in Massapequa, Police Commissioner Lawrence Mulvey called Francis the "antithesis of the Hippocratic oath."