Bronx Doctor Arrested In Undercover Sting For Selling Drug Prescriptions

Attorney General Spitzer today announced the arrest of a Bronx doctor for selling drug prescriptions for highly addictive medications.

Dr. George Austin Carr, 49, a general practitioner with an office at 339 East Fordham Road, is accused of selling four prescriptions for controlled drugs to an undercover investigator. Carr was paid $100 for each prescription.

Carr's arrest was the result of a four-month sting operation by Spitzer's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. Carr, whose office was only open from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on weekdays, became the focus of investigation after ordering three times the number of triplicate prescriptions pads as other physicians.

"The defendant flagrantly disregarded the law by using his medical practice as a front to enable individuals to obtain powerful drugs for cash," said Spitzer. "With no consideration for the health of the buyer or the medical necessity of the drugs, the defendant acted more like a street corner drug dealer than a medical practitioner."

Carr was arrested last night at his office and arraigned this morning before Bronx Criminal Court Judge Harold Adler. He was charged with four counts of Criminal Sale of a Prescription for a Controlled Substance. If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison.

On four separate occasions between October 20th and December 1, 2000, Carr sold prescriptions for Xanax and Vicodin-ES, two powerful and highly addictive drugs, without conducting any medical exam of the undercover investigator. One of the prescriptions was written for the investigator's girlfriend, who was not present.

Carr lives at 39 Altamont Avenue in Tarrytown, New York.

Special Assistant Attorney General Roxanne E. Wild, of the New York City Regional Office of the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, is prosecuting the case. All cases are handled under the direct supervision of Deputy Attorney General Jos? Maldonado.

The charges against Carr are accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.