A Queens doctor has been charged with manslaughter after allegedly turning his practice into a pill mill that turned many of his patients into addicts, three of whom died from overdoses.
Investigators say from 2012 to 2017, Dr. Lawrence Choy prescribed nearly 1 million pills known as the "Holy Trinity," an addictive deadly cocktail of Oxycodone, Xanax and the muscle relaxer Somo.
Law enforcement sources say Choy turned to peddling pills after the IRS and New York State issued warrants alleging he owed $1 million in back taxes.
He is charged with giving out illegal prescriptions to 14 patients and allegedly writing over 100 prescriptions for oxycontin in a single month.
Henry Ries, the father of one of Choy's patients who died of an overdose, was at his arraignment.
"There is no doubt that the amount of prescription opioids this guy was giving out at one time, and for the amount a time, you get addicted and there's almost no hope," Ries said.
"They did not walk into his office with an addiction issue, and after being patients for a couple of months, three months, four months, they had a significant substance abuse issue," said Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget Brennan.
Choy was arrested in March in Wisconsin and extradited to New York.
Prosecutors say he is a flight risk and are asking bail be set at $350,000.