Was walking up to my Dr's office today to get a script for bloodwork (Test FSH, LH, TSH, IGF-1) and notice four police officers with machine guns standing outside the door. I said "is he closed?" figuring one of the patients flipped out in there, which was an everyday occurrence, and the cop said "Oh yeah he's closed". Then I see this a few hours later. Holy Cow!!!!! (not just saying that because he's from India) Man, all I get is Test and Nexium from him. I'm going to go back tommorow and see if I can get my script because I did call the anwering service and they said "The Good Doctor" (Not DR. FIST) will be back tomorrow.
http://www.buffalonews.com/city/police-courts/police-blotter/article325299.eceWatch the video, it's interesting (Not more that Mr. Falcon's though)
GODSPEED TO DR. PRAVIN MEHTA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
STAYING POSITIVE IN AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Federal agents and Niagara Falls Police raided the office of a Niagara Falls doctor this morning in connection with a major investigation into the illegal distribution of prescription pain pills.
The raid at the office of Dr. Pravin V. Mehta on Main Street, followed a lengthy probe by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Attorney's office and other agencies, sources familiar with the case told The Buffalo News.
At about 9:10 a.m., a team of 15 agents from a DEA-led task force went into Mehta's office, which is in an older, run-down-looking three-story building at the corner of Main Street and Third Street in the Falls. The office is roughly a half-mile from the Rainbow Bridge to Canada.
About 9:35 a.m., police led him in handcuffs from the office and into a waiting car.
Three uniformed police officers with automatic weapons stood outside the building.
While agents who conducted the raid declined to comment, law enforcement officials with knowledge of the case told The News that criminal charges will be filed against Mehta, 72, and several other people connected with his medical practice.
Details of the charges are expected to be made public later today at federal court.
Known as Pravin Mehta and a resident of the Getzville section of Amherst, Mehta graduated from a medical school in England in 1965, and has been licensed to practice medicine in New York State since 1976.
The News learned that federal drug agents and Falls police have investigated Mehta for months, in part because of state Health Department statistics that show that the Niagara Falls doctor routinely prescribes far more painkiller drugs for his patients than almost any physician in the state.
The drugs involved are believed to be hydrocodone and oxycotin, prescription opiates classified as controlled substances. These medications -- addictive and potent -- have become the drugs-of-choice in the illegal drug market, and have been associated with several recent fatal overdoses in the Buffalo-Niagara area.
When prescribed by a doctor, as many as 90 pills are often purchased for the cost of a co-payment -- typically around $6.
But the drugs sell for much more on the street, as much as $80 for a single 80-mg. oxycotin pill.
Federal agents and Niagara Falls police believe some of the painkillers that Mehta prescribed wound up being illegally sold on the black market and used illegally by young people.
While not commenting on the Mehta probe, U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr. said last week that his office and the Buffalo DEA office consider the illegal trafficking of prescription painkillers one of the most serious and fastest-growing crime problems in the region.
As part of a nationwide DEA "Prescription Drug Take-Back" program last September, federal agents in Western New York recovered more than 1.5 tons of unneeded prescription drugs that were turned in by concerned citizens, said Dale M. Kasprzyk, special agent in charge of the Buffalo DEA office.
Last July, DEA agents arrested 34 people from Buffalo and its suburbs in what was called the biggest crackdown on prescription drug trafficking ever conducted in Western New York.
None of those charged in that case were doctors, and law enforcement officials said the arrest of a physician, such as Mehta, is unusual.
Those arrested today are expected to appear in federal court later today. Hochul's office will prosecute the cases.
Healthgrades.com, a service that rates and collects information about doctors and hospitals throughout the country, gave Mehta a rating of 2.5 stars out of a possible five.
He specializes in diabetes, metabolism, and endocrinology as part of his internal medicine practice, according to state health department records.
He is is currently affiliated with Mount St. Mary's Hospital & Health Center in Lewiston. There are no malpractice actions, sanctions or disciplinary actions against Mehta, according to the health department records.
Mehta graduated from the University of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in England, and has done residencies in England, Toronto and Buffalo, the ratings service said.
He did his residency in internal medicine at Erie County Medical Center in 1976, and became board certified in 1977. He then became board certified in endocrinolgy and metabolism in 1989.
Mehta is married to Malini Mehta, 73, also a medical doctor, who works at the Buffalo Psychiatric Center.
The couple lives in Amherst, in a house on Markley Drive in Getzville assessed at $330,000. They also own a home on Scamridge Court in Amherst, assessed at $158,400.
The Mehtas also own some properties in Buffalo and Niagara Falls.
In 1993, The News reported that Pravin Mehta was part of a team of American doctors who went to India to work in a temporary medical camp for 15 days. The team provided free medical treatment to about 20,000 patients.
