Rockville Centre Rx doc gets 3 years’ probation

The Rockville Centre doctor who was arrested more than a year ago for illegally selling drug prescriptions and pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor last month was sentenced on April 18 to three years’ probation.

Martin Roginsky, 83, an endocrinologist, was arrested on Dec. 15, 2010, when village police officers executed a search warrant in his office in the Ryan Medical Building, at 2000 N. Village Ave. Rockville Centre police said that he was selling prescriptions for addictive, opiate-based painkillers like OxyContin, Oxycodone and Roxicodone without conducting medical exams.

Roginsky, who was originally charged with 10 counts of criminal sale of a prescription for a controlled substance, pleaded guilty to criminal diversion of prescription medications and prescriptions. According to Chris Munzing, deputy communications director for the Nassau County district attorney, Roginsky must surrender his medical license and pay $93,000 in restitution, which will be used by the district attorney’s office for other anti-crime initiatives.

“Due to Dr. Roginsky’s age, I respect the district attorney’s decision to plea this case to what I consider very lenient,” said Rockville Centre Police Commissioner Charles Gennario. “Dr. Roginsky aided the epidemic of prescription drug use our community and the nation are experiencing. My detectives did a great job getting a legalized drug dealer off the streets, and that’s what counts.”

Village police estimated that the narcotics, which Roginsky sold to residents of communities on Long Island and throughout New York and surrounding states, had a total street value of between $10 million and $15 million. He is believed to have kept more than $260,000 of the proceeds from his phony prescriptions.

“This defendant violated his oath and the law when he sold prescription painkillers to his patients,” District Attorney Kathleen Rice said in a statement. “By pulling Mr. Roginsky’s medical license forever and placing him on probation, this sentence ensures this ailing 83-year-old will never endanger the public again.”

Roginsky’s sentencing comes at a time when County Executive Ed Mangano has called for a focus on reducing the number of drug-abuse crimes in the county. Mangano met with pharmacists and New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman in February to discuss the creation of a database that would allow pharmacists to see whether a prescription has already been filled at multiple locations.

The county has also set up prescription drug drop boxes at every police precinct where patients can safely dispose of unwanted prescription drugs.