Baldwin doctor arrested in prescription drug probe

Just a few weeks after William Conway, a Baldwin physician, was convicted of writing thousands of unwarranted prescriptions for painkillers, a second Baldwin doctor, Anand Persaud, is being investigated for a similar charge.

Persaud, whose office is on Atlantic Avenue, was arrested this morning around 11 a.m. by a combination of state and local law enforcement officials. The doctor, who was led out of his office in handcuffs, is being investigated as part of an increasingly intense sweep of health practitioners believed to be overprescribing oxycodone and similarly addictive painkillers.

The scrutiny of medical professionals in the area was stepped up in the wake of a deadly pharmacy robbery in Medford in June of 2011.