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East Islip Doc Admits to Illegal Painkiller Prescriptions

A doctor with an office in East Islip has admitted to illegally prescribing the addictive painkiller oxycodone to a patient that he knew was hooked on the drug.

Dr. Carmine Mandarano pleaded guilty Thursday at Central Islip federal court to the illegal distribution of oxycodone.

“Medical professionals who hand out prescriptions for narcotics when there is no legimate medical need to do so are drug dealers, pure and simple,” Loretta Lynch, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

Prosecutors said the 62-year-old Northport man issued the prescription to a patient that he knew was using illegal narcotics, had obtained multiple narcotics prescriptions from other medical professionals, and was abusing painkillers in 2011.

Mandarano faces up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine when he is sentenced by Judge Gary Brown. He has agreed to forfeit $150,000 in proceeds.