Officials: Roslyn doctor illegally sold oxycodone to two patients
Dr. Tameshwar Ammar, 51, of Amityville, pleaded not guilty in federal court in Central Islip to a three-count indictment Credit: Department of Justice
A doctor who practices in Roslyn was arrested by federal agents Thursday on charges of illegally selling oxycodone to two patients — one a drug dealer who resold the narcotics, and the other, a longtime patient who died of an overdose after getting his latest prescription, according to officials.
Tameshwar Ammar, 51, of Amityville, pleaded not guilty in federal court in Central Islip to a three-count indictment charging him with conspiracy to distribute oxycodone and two counts of distribution of the drug.
Ammar was held without bail at arraignment, pending his attempt to come up with a bail package suitable to U.S. Magistrate Steven Locke.
He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
According to court papers, Ammar wrote prescriptions for a total of 19,000 oxycodone pills between 2013 and 2019 to the two patients without any diagnostic attempts to show they needed the narcotics.
The two patients were identified as John Doe 1 and John Doe 2.
Ammar sold the pill prescriptions to John Doe 1 “knowing that [he] was a drug dealer who was selling the oxycodone that he obtained from the defendant’s illegal prescriptions to others,” according to papers filed by Eastern District Assistant U.S. Attorney Bradley King.
In addition, the papers said, Ammar agreed to give John Doe 1 oxycodone prescriptions in exchange “for quantities of cocaine and steroids.”
The papers also said Ammar sold the prescriptions to John Doe 2 “knowing that [he] had a history of ‘doctor shopping,’ 'addiction,’ a ‘suicide’ attempt and psychiatric issues.”
Ammar was not charged in connection with the death of John Doe 2, but the court papers said that in July of 2019, the patient died of an overdose of oxycodone, methadone and ketamine two weeks after the doctor had issued his last oxycodone prescription.
“Significantly, ketamine, along with marijuana, was found during the execution of a search warrant in 2017 at the defendant’s Roslyn office,” the papers said.
Ammar continued to prescribe oxycodone for John Doe 2, despite a note in the patient's medical file, apparently from another doctor, stating in capital letters “DISCONTINUED FROM TAKING OXYCODONE … COULD BE DANGEROUS TO HIS BIPOLAR DISORDER.”
Further, the papers said, DEA investigators were reviewing the records of Ammar’s patients that showed at least 60 others had been prescribed combinations of oxycodone and other drugs similar to the prescriptions the doctor had prescribed for John Doe 2.
The papers also said that Ammar has federal tax liens of at least $593,000 and he set up a shell company to funnel his earnings “to avoid paying child support and the tax [liens].”
Ammar’s attorney, Richard Haley, declined to comment, as did King.
Bob Kessler covers federal law, including law enforcement agencies such as the FBI, DEA, IRS and ATF, as well as the federal courts.
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