A second New York physician is facing a manslaughter charge over the opioid overdose death of a patient, Rochester Beacon reported March 23.
Sudipt Deshmukh, MD, 56, was a primary care physician who prescribed a lethal mix of opioids and other controlled substances to a patient he knew struggled with addiction, according to a New York attorney general indictment. The male patient died of an overdose in 2015. Dr. Deshmukh was charged with manslaughter in the second degree, two counts of reckless endangerment in the first degree related to two patients, six counts of criminal sale of a prescription for a controlled substance for overprescribing high doses of opioids, and healthcare fraud for charging Medicare for the medically unnecessary prescriptions that contributed to his patient's death.
Dr. Deshmukh's one week trial wrapped up on March 20. The judge has not yet released his decision, according to the report. He is the second physician in New York to face murder charges for allegedly prescribing excessive controlled substances.
The first physician was George Blatti, MD, 75, a physician in Nassau County, N.Y., who was charged March 4, 2021 with second-degree murder for his prescription practices, which allegedly led to five patient deaths. Dr. Blatti's charges were reduced to manslaughter in 2022, according to Rochester Beacon. His trial is ongoing.