George Blatti, a disgraced doctor, pleaded guilty to manslaughter charges for overprescribing opioids to Michael Kinzer, Robert Mielinis, Sean Quigley, Geraldine Sabatasso, and Diane Woodring. (Screenshot: WCBS)
A disgraced doctor who admitted killing five people by overprescribing opioids in the thousands was sentenced Monday to five-to-15 years in prison. The defendant, George Blatti, 78, said he accepted responsibility at his hearing, but others did not buy it.
The judge called him a disgrace and said, “You are certainly no doctor,” according to New York City ABC affiliate WABC.
“He’s a piece of garbage,” said Sandra Kinzer, the sister of victim Michael Kinzer, according to New York City NBC affiliate WNBC. “I’m a nurse. He’s no doctor.”
Blatti was originally charged with five counts of murder for killing Robert Mielinis, 55, Sean Quigley, 31, Geraldine Sabatasso, 50, Diane Woodring, 53. and the aforementioned Michael Kinzer, 44. Blatti also faced 11 counts of reckless endangerment, which included the five victims who died and six who lived. Ultimately, he pleaded guilty to five counts of manslaughter as part of a plea deal.
Prosecutors in Nassau County on Long Island, New York, said that Blatti, a general practitioner licensed to practice medicine beginning in 1976, lacked specialized training or accreditation in pain management. Still, he nonetheless offered a prolific number of such prescriptions, even to people had he never met or communicated with. He did not perform exams or seek a medical history.
Blatti used a makeshift office at a former Radio Shack in the hamlet of Franklin Square — it still had the Radio Shack sign and merchandise on the wall. After losing access to this office, he met with patients in his car, prescribing medications without an examination from the parking lots of the Rockville Center Hotel, where he lived, and a nearby Dunkin’ Donuts.
“The defendant used paper prescriptions pursuant to a waiver issued by the New York State Health Commissioner, allowing him to avoid using the state’s secure electronic prescription system which is generally required, and provides for greater oversight,” prosecutors wrote.
For example, in Sabatasso’s death, she started seeing him in 2007 after neck surgery. He wrote her 35 prescriptions of more than 4,000 pills in six months of opioid treatment. She died of acute oxycodone intoxication on March 22, 2016. In Kinzer’s death, Blatti had prescribed more than 1,000 pills in less than six months of treatment. Quigley suffered from opioid abuse since at least 2008 and started suffering liver failure by 2017, but Blatti nonetheless prescribed him 180 oxycodone pills on Nov. 21, 2017, according to prosecutors. He died on Dec. 2, 2017, from acute intoxication of oxycodone and oxymorphone.
Blatti voluntarily surrendered his medical license to New York state on June 24, 2019.
“This doctor prescribed massive quantities of dangerous drugs to victims exhibiting clear signs of addiction and other health emergencies. His actions ultimately led to the deaths of five patients from drug overdose,” Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly said. “We entrust doctors with our care every day, assuming that their medical expertise and ethical oath to do no harm will ensure our health and safety. George Blatti did not live up to his oath. He failed his patients and caused inconceivable suffering to their families. As we continue to battle the opioid epidemic across communities on Long Island, we hope that George Blatti’s sentence sends a strong message: if you overprescribe opioids and endanger patients, we will hold you accountable.”
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