Paul Bellofiore, 57, of Trumbull, gave up his license in October, state Department of Public Health records show. Bellofiore, who had practiced in Fairfield, also agreed not to contest the allegations against him if he ever seeks to have his license reinstated.
In February, Bellofiore was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Hartford to two years of probation for illegally prescribing the painkiller. Judge Alvin W. Thompson also ordered him to perform 200 hours of community service and prohibited Bellofiore from writing prescriptions for controlled substances until Oct. 13 of this year, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s office. On that day, Bellofiore pleaded guilty to issuing unlawful prescriptions for oxycodone.
Bellofiore prescribed oxycodone until 2016 to a married couple who had relocated from Connecticut to Florida in 2011. Bellofiore knew the couple had obtained forged prescriptions in the past for opioid painkillers and should have been aware of the possibility that the couple was abusing the drugs, the press release said.
Twice a year, the couple returned to Connecticut and saw Bellofiore, who each time provided them with six months of predated prescriptions, the press release said. In February 2016, he provided a stack of prescriptions to a friend of the couple that were dated to make it appear that they had been issued monthly, the press release said. The prescriptions allowed the couple to receive thousands of oxycodone and Percocet pills, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.
The couple then sold a significant number of the pills to a middleman for street-level resales of the painkillers in and around Waterbury, the press release said.
On Tuesday, the board reprimanded and fined Dr. David Pearlstone of Easton $7,500 and imposed a one-year probation on his license in connection with lapses in his care of a patient in 2015.
A consent order Pearlstone agreed to said that after draining an abscess, he failed to adequately assess the patient, who developed a fever and an abdominal infection. The order also states that Pearlstone failed to send the patient to a hospital emergency room to treat the infection or the potential for the patient to develop a fistula, which is an abnormal opening between organs that can be a complication from diverticulitis surgery.
He also failed to document his care for the patient in medical records, the consent order said. A DPH record states that the case grew out of the patient’s complaint about Pearlstone’s care. By signing the order, Pearlstone chose not to contest the allegations while admitting no wrongdoing.
If he practices medicine during the probation, Pearlstone must pay a doctor to review 20 percent of his patient charts. A DPH record says he is not currently practicing.
The license of Dr. Usman Ramzan, an internist from the Northford section of North Branford, was placed on probation for five years, state records show, because he abused alcohol to excess before and in 2016.
While on probation, Ramzan must undergo random alcohol tests, attend therapy and support group meetings and is barred from a solo practice, a consent order he agreed to said. A DPH record said that Ramzan is not currently practicing medicine. By signing the consent order, Ramzan chose not to contest the allegations. He told the board that he has been sober for nine months.
