Upper East Side Physician Charged With Practicing Medicine Without A License

Attorney General Spitzer today announced that a Manhattan physician who maintained a medical practice in his Lexington Avenue townhouse has been arrested for unlawfully practicing medicine after the state determined that he posed an imminent danger to the public health.

Dr. Roger J. Fares, 69, of 1016 Lexington Avenue, had his medical license suspended in February 2005 after the state Department of Health (DOH) charged him with 22 counts of professional misconduct.

Nonetheless, according to the Felony Complaint filed in the case, on two occasions following the suspension of Dr. Fares’ license, undercover agents from the state Department of Health and the Attorney General’s office visited Dr. Fares’ office posing as patients and were medically evaluated by him. In one instance, Dr. Fares gave the Attorney General undercover agent 30 tablets of Prednisone (a steroid used to treat inflammation and other conditions) and wrote out, at the agent’s request, a prescription for Nasonex (a nasal steroid used to relieve stuffy or runny noses and nasal allergies). The prescription was written on a prescription pad belonging to his brother, Dr. Raymond Fares.

Arraigned today before Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Anthony J. Ferrara, Dr. Fares was charged with one count of Unauthorized Practice of a Profession (Medicine), a Class E felony punishable by up to four years in prison. Bail was set at $10,000.

The charge is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

Spitzer thanked DOH’s Office of Professional Medical Conduct for referring the matter, and for its assistance and cooperation in the investigation.

Special Assistant Attorney General Debra Glatt is prosecuting the case. Senior Special Investigator Bernard Kleger, Special Investigators William Diaz and Robert Crook, and Supervising Special Auditor Investigator Thomasina Smith assisted in the investigation.