Woodmere Dentist Faces Prescription Drug Charges; Empty Pill Bottles Found in Office

Rice: Barber wrote and filled prescriptions for painkillers in the names of friends and former patients

MINEOLA, NY – Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice announced today that a Woodmere dentist has been charged with eight drug-related felonies after writing out and filling fraudulent prescriptions for painkillers.

Russell Barber, 54, has been charged with four counts of Criminal Sale of a Prescription for a Controlled Substance, four counts of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Fifth Degree, and eight violations of the New York Public Health Law. He faces up to 15 years in jail if convicted. He is due back in court today.

Rice said that for the past three years, the District Attorney’s Office and the Nassau County Police Department have been investigating Barber for filling out prescriptions for painkillers in names other than his own, and then filling the prescriptions himself, often at Pen-Mill Pharmacy in Hewlett.

Rice said that Barber continued to treat patients despite his prescription painkiller addiction. A search warrant executed at Barber’s office revealed empty pill bottles in the office where he treated patients.

The investigation into Barber began as a spin-off of an investigation into the illegal sale of drugs at Pen-Mill Pharmacy. In that case, pharmacist and owner Robert Rochford pleaded guilty to forgery and drug charges.

“Dr. Barber abused his position,” Rice said. “Medical professionals are in positions of public trust and that’s what makes this betrayal of the community so egregious.”

Handling the case for the DA’s Office is ADA Kenneth St. Bernard of the DA’s Rackets Bureau. Barber is being represented by George Sheinberg, Esq.

The charges are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.