The New York Times

June 28, 1996, Friday, Late Edition – Final

Park Ave. Doctor Is Arrested in Sale of Tranquilizer Prescriptions

BYLINE: By LAWRENCE VAN GELDER

SECTION: Section B; Page 8; Column 1; Metropolitan Desk

LENGTH: 482 words

A psychiatrist supposedly known as Dr. Cash to clients who lined up by the dozens outside his Park Avenue office, often drinking beer from cans in paper bags, was arrested on Wednesday afternoon in an undercover operation and charged with selling prescriptions for a controlled substance, the tranquilizer Xanax.
The psychiatrist, identified by the State Attorney General’s office as Mark M. Kesten, whose office is at 823 Park Avenue, between 75th and 76th Streets, pleaded not guilty yesterday in Criminal Court in Manhattan.
He posted $5,000 bond and was released after being ordered to surrender his passport and return to court on Aug. 22. The felony charges against him carry a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.
The office of the Attorney General, Dennis C. Vacco, said the arrest by undercover investigators of its Medicaid Fraud Control Unit followed repeated complaints by neighbors and a meeting of the police, tenants, 19th Precinct detectives and Dr. Kesten in the office of Assemblyman John A. Ravitz, the Republican who represents the district.
The complaint against Dr. Kesten said that an undercover investigator paid $150 in exchange for a Xanax prescription without undergoing an examination. The complaint also said the investigator told the doctor he was not taking Xanax, but selling it on the street. Xanax is Upjohn’s brand name for alprazolam, used for the treatment of anxiety disorders or for short-term relief of anxiety.
Richard Harrow, a member of the unit and the prosecutor in the case, said the scene outside the doctor’s office was an eyesore, attracting as many as 50 people a day, some standing in line and drinking. “It was going on for about a four-hour span every day,” Mr. Harrow said.
Assemblyman Ravitz said: “It started as early as 7 A.M. It’s not the usual situation you see on Park Avenue.”
The Attorney General’s office said Dr. Kesten was born in 1938, graduated from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and has been licensed to practice in New York State since 1975.
Wes Goforth, a spokesman for Mr. Vacco, said the State Department of Health and the Department of Social Services, which administers Medicaid, had been notified of Dr. Kesten’s arrest, opening the way for further action that could lead to revocation of his license to practice medicine. Efforts to reach Dr. Kesten by telephone yesterday were unsuccessful.
Assemblyman Ravitz said the matter came to his attention a few weeks ago, when tenants of 823 and 829 Park Avenue complained of the people outside the doctor’s office. Mr. Ravitz said a meeting at his office failed to resolve the matter and tenants were helped to file a complaint.
Yesterday, after Dr. Kesten’s arrest and arraignment, Assemblyman Ravitz said: “I don’t think it’s going to be business as usual at his office tomorrow. But if it is, we’ll be right on top of him.”