CNY dentist to pay $60K for allowing employee to prescribe herself oxycodone, feds say

Gentle Dental Care

An Oswego County dentist has agreed to pay $60,000 after he allowed an employee to prescribe herself oxycodone for five years, federal prosecutors said on Thursday, Sept. 29. (Google image)

Phoenix, N.Y. — An Oswego County dentist has agreed to pay the government $60,000 after he was accused of allowing an employee to prescribe herself oxycodone for five years, federal prosecutors said.

The employee used the electronic prescription system at Gentle Dental Care in Phoenix to obtain the drugs for her personal use, according to a news release issued Thursday by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York.

The dentist, Omar Guesmia, shared his prescribing credentials with the office employee, who was able to retrieve the drugs from several pharmacies between November 2016 and November 2021, according to a settlement agreement filed in federal court.

The employee’s wrongdoing was obvious, prosecutors said in the court papers. Guesmia did not have a history of prescribing oxycodone to his dental patients and several of the prescriptions were ordered while Guesmia was traveling out of the country, prosecutors said.

As a part of the civil settlement, Guesmia admitted to failing to monitor prescriptions written under his name. He agreed to pay $60,000 and surrender his Drug Enforcement Administration registration, which will prohibit him from issuing new prescriptions.

Guesmia agreed not to renew his registration for at least five years, according to his settlement agreement.

Syracuse.com contacted Guesmia’s dental office and a person said the office would have no comment and hung up.

Staff writer Fernando Alba covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Have a tip, story idea, question or comment? Reach him at 315-690-6950, at falba@syracuse.com, or on Twitter at @byfernandoalba.

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