By MATT CHANDLER
mchandler@bizjournals.com | 716-541-1654

The Niagara Falls doctor charged in January with filling prescriptions for patients without conducting proper medical examinations was indicted by a federal grand jury.

Pravin Mehta, 73, of Amherst was indicted on 28 counts, including illegally dispensing controlled substances.

At the time his medical clinic was raided in January, U.S. Attorney William Hochul said Mehta was dispensing powerful prescription drugs to patients he was seeing, in some cases, for as little as one minute.

"Dr. Mehta is accused of selling prescription drugs to both undercover officers and people cooperating with law enforcement without any kind of medical justification or medical necessity at all," Hochul said at the time of the arrest.

According to data provided by the Buffalo office of the Drug Enforcement Agency, which took part in the investigation, from August 2007 through February 2010, Mehta wrote more than 40,000 scripts for controlled substances including Oxycodone and Hydrocodone. Those prescriptions totaled more than 3 million doses of the drugs combined.

From 2008 through 2010, Mehta, who specialized in internal medicine, billed more to Medicaid for controlled substances than the other 157 doctors in Niagara Falls combined - nearly $3 million in all.

"To put that in perspective, in 2009 he prescribed almost twice as many pills as all of the doctors in Niagara County combined," Hochul said.

Among the allegations levied against Mehta, prosecutors say he would frequently travel outside of the United States and leave behind signed prescription sheets with his staff. Patients were able to request the specific type of pills they wanted, as well as the dosage, authorities allege. According to the release from the U.S. Attorney's office, prescriptions were then issued despite the fact that Mehta's office staff did not include any licensed medical professionals, such as other doctors, physician assistants, licensed nurses or practical nurses. 

If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both.