Newsday (New York)

September 30, 1994, Friday, CITY EDITION

A Dr. Feelgood Arrest

BYLINE: Eric Wilson

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. A39

LENGTH: 111 words

A Forest Hills psychiatrist was arrested Wednesday on charges he sold anti-depressant drug prescriptions for cash – an illegal operation prosecutors called “Playing Doctor.”
A four-count felony complaint was filed against Dr. Philip Kaminstein, who formerly practiced in Rego Park, officials said.
Kaminstein, 66, of Forest Hills, allegedly wrote and sold prescriptions for the antidepressant Xanax for about $ 100 to $ 125 apiece, “without any pretense of determining whether the drugs were medically necessary or appropriate for his patient,” said Edward Kuriansky, the state special prosecutor for Medicaid fraud control.