A radiologist from western New York state has pleaded guilty to charges that he wrote fraudulent prescriptions for painkillers, according to an article in the Buffalo News.
Dr. Albert Cowie of Diagnostic Imaging Assoc. in Amherst pleaded guilty to two felony charges: healthcare fraud and obtaining controlled substances by fraud. He faces nearly three years in prison, according to the article.
Cowie was charged in April 2015 with distributing prescription drugs such as oxycodone and hydrocodone to several acquaintances from 2010 to 2014. According to the complaint filed in the case, Cowie wrote nearly 300 prescriptions for the drugs to three individuals he knew, who retained some of the drugs for personal use but returned the rest to Cowie.
In the court appearance in which he pleaded guilty, Cowie admitted to writing fraudulent prescriptions and said he was addicted to painkillers himself, according to the article in the Buffalo News. In the original complaint, Cowie was charged with paying a prostitute $200 a day and injecting her with heroin; he did not plead guilty to those charges as part of the plea deal, according to the story.
Cowie is now scheduled to be sentenced and could get up to 33 months in prison. His state medical license is also reportedly under review.
