Key Takeaways:
– Long Island doctor, George Blatti, sentenced to 5-15 years for opioid prescriptions leading to fatal overdoses
– Blatti operated a de facto pharmacy out of an abandoned RadioShack and later from his car
– Notorious for prescribing narcotics without medical examinations, even to those he never met
– His victims include Geraldine Sabatasso, 50; Michael Kinzer, 44; Robert Mielinis, 55; Sean Quigley, 31, and Diane Woodring, 53
A Misspent Trust
78-year-old George Blatti, a doctor from Long Island, received a sentence to serve 5-15 years in jail on Monday. This sentence follows Blatti’s guilty plea given in October. His over-subscription of opioids resulted in five deadly overdoses.
“He prescribed huge quantities of dangerous drugs to individuals manifesting clear signs of addiction,” claimed Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly. George Blatti’s unethical actions violate the ethical codes and moral principles doctors pledge to uphold.
Not a Traditional Physician
Blatti became a subject of interest for Long Island cops in 2018. They detected a pattern where several opioid overdose victims had prescriptions from the same doctor. The subsequent investigations uprooted a shocking truth.
Blatti had converted an abandoned RadioShack in a Franklin Square strip mall into an impromptu doctor’s office. According to the prosecutors, he dispensed thousands of oxycodone, morphine, clonazepam (Klonopin), alprazolam (Xanax), and oxycontin pills indiscriminately.
When the RadioShack was no longer accessible, Blatti took a more unconventional approach instead. He resorted to prescribing pills from his car or met patients at a nearby Dunkin ‘Donuts. It turned out that Blatti would write out prescriptions without any medical examination. In some instances, he even wrote prescriptions for people he never got to meet.
Paper Over Technology
Blatti had a special exception granted by the New York State Health Commissioner. This free pass enabled him to write paper prescriptions, helping him bypass the state’s secure electronic system.
“Every day, we trust doctors with our care, assuming their expertise and their oath to do no harm protects us,” commented Donnelly. But, in this case, George Blatti failed to uphold that trust. His actions inflicted unimaginable harm and caused distress to the families of his victims.
Victims’ Toll and Legal Proceedings
Between March 2016 and September 2018, five individuals fell prey to Blatti’s malpractice. Geraldine Sabatasso, 50, Michael Kinzer, 44, Robert Mielinis, 55, Sean Quigley, 31, and Diane Woodring, 53, lost their lives due to drug overdoses. These unfortunate victims held prescriptions from Blatti.
Police authorities arrested Blatti in 2019. In March 2021, he faced charges of second-degree murder for each of the five deaths. These charges saw later conversion to second-degree manslaughter, to which Blatti pleaded guilty. Now, the court’s ruling has sealed his fate, sending a strong message against potential rogue medical practitioners.