NY doctor and son accused of running pill mill, distributing prescriptions
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A doctor and his son have been charged with running a family-run drug factory in New York in what authorities described as a brazen abuse of medical authority to fuel the illegal distribution of prescription drugs, authorities announced Thursday.
According to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), over a period of approximately three months in 2022, the doctor allegedly wrote fake prescriptions for highly addictive drugs without ever examining patients, while his son found buyers and collected payments as part of the scheme.
Authorities say the duo distributed a wide range of drugs, including those known as Percocet, Adderall and Xanax.
71-year-old retired doctor Dr. Richard Taubman and his son Eric Taubman, 33, surrendered to investigators with the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office on Thursday following an extensive multi-year joint investigation.
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Close-up of a hand holding a white prescription pill. (iStock)
“Their alleged scheme to place profits above public health by unlawfully distributing controlled substance prescriptions is not only reckless and dangerous, it is unconscionable,” Farhana Islam, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA New York Enforcement Division, said in a statement.
“Medical professionals have a duty to protect patients’ lives, not destroy them through addiction and harm.”
The father is a retired obstetrician-gynecologist from Great Neck who returned to work at a non-surgical weight loss center in Islandia in Suffolk County in early 2022, according to the DEA.
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Shelves with prescription medications at a pharmacy on Wednesday, August 6, 2025. (Eric Thayer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Investigators allege that between April 5 and June 29, 2022, Taubman wrote dozens of prescriptions for controlled substances for multiple individuals without a legitimate medical purpose and outside the course of his profession.
Authorities also claimed he sent prescriptions electronically from his home in Glen Head to pharmacies in Queens.
Separately, the son allegedly provided the father with personal information of friends and acquaintances and requests for drugs.
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The DEA logo appears on the back of the drug packages. (Fox News)
Multiple reports from pharmacist employees quickly spread to the DEA, and the agency said the father’s prescription license was revoked roughly a month later.
The investigation also revealed that some people were circulating the drug further, selling it for profit, exchanging it for cash and other drugs, or simply using it.
Father and son turned themselves in Thursday and pleaded not guilty to several charges.
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Specifically, they are accused of 23 counts of illegally selling or attempting to sell prescription drugs, as well as illegally forming a team to carry out this scheme.
If convicted, they face up to five and a half years in prison.
