83-Year-Old S.I. Doctor Accused of Prescription Scheme

An 83-year-old doctor is accused of selling thousands of prescriptions for the painkiller oxycodone from his Staten Island home.

Dr. Felix Lanting was arrested Tuesday and charged with a felony count of conspiracy to distribute oxycodone.

According to a complaint filed in Brooklyn federal court, Lanting wrote more than 3,000 prescriptions for the painkiller since April, often without examining the patients.

It says about 490 of his patients were under the age of 30.

Court papers say at some point the doctor hired "goons'' and "bouncers'' to guard his house after the family of a customer who suffered an overdose took an ax to his door.

Outside court Tuesday, the doctor denied the charges. He did not enter a plea and was released on a $100,000 bond.