NEW YORK’S TOMPKINS COUNTY (WETM) – For administering a patient dozens of morphine pills per day for more than ten years while the patient also took cocaine and oxycodone, a Dryden doctor will forfeit more than $70,000 in damages.
Dr. Howard Silcoff, a physician at Dryden Family Medical Practice and the former Tompkins County Medical Examiner, agreed to pay $70,377 to resolve the accusations and refund Medicare, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Silcoff “administered restricted medications for non-legitimate purposes,” according to the notice, and submitted false Medicare claims.
A Romulus man must pay over $130,000 to the IRS and the Coast Guard for failing to record his income and inappropriately instructing students.
Silcoff specifically acknowledged that he prescribed 35 morphine pills per day for more than ten years, together with diazepam (brand name Valium), despite the drug manufacturer’s advice against treating both opioids (morphine) and benzodiazepines (Valium) concurrently. After learning that the patient was abusing cocaine and oxycodone in 2017, Silcoff neglected to modify the medication for 17 months.
The patient was eventually prescribed medication by Silcoff to treat opioid dependence, pain, and withdrawal.
Several drug tests for the diazepam, which the patient took “inconsistently,” came back negative, which, according to the court, shows that the Valium prescriptions “had no genuine medical purpose.” A Dansville doctor agrees to pay $600K for fraudulently billing Medicare and Medicaid. Additionally, the announcement stated The overuse of morphine and its dangers to both patients and the broader public were noted.
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