Rochester, N.Y. — A former Rochester Regional Health doctor accused of overprescribing a patient who fatally overdosed has been acquitted of manslaughter and other charges.
Prosecutors accused Dr. Sudipt Deshmukh of prescribing mixes of opioids and other controlled substances — including overprescribing one addicted patient who died from an overdose. He was indicted by the New York State Attorney General's Office in 2021 on charges including manslaughter, reckless endangerment, criminal sale of a prescription of a controlled substance, and health care fraud.
According to Attorney General Letitia James, witnesses testified that Deshmukh exhibited a concerning pattern of neglecting physical examinations on patients who displayed obvious signs of addiction. Deshmukh also faced accusations of routinely prescribing opioids to one particular patient at a dosage exceeding 10 times the CDC's recommended amount.
A judge ruled Friday, in a bench trial, that Deshmukh, 58, was not guilty of all charges.
Defense attorney Joe Damelio said the allegations of his client's conduct were unfounded.
"Two experts testified — both qualified expert witnesses who reached different conclusions," Damelio said. "I think that there raised a reasonable doubt that as to the proof in this case, and I think that's what the verdict ultimately hedged on is whether my client was acting with a legitimate medical purpose."
Deshmukh worked as an internist at Long Pond Internal Medicine on Ridgeway Avenue in Greece from October 2007 until March 2020, when he was terminated. Several colleagues showed up in court Friday morning to support Deshmukh.
"The people that you saw this morning here in support," Damelio said, "most of them are medical professionals who, from day one, have told me not only what a wonderful doctor my client is but the care, the sympathy and the empathy that he has showed."
Damelio said he believes the not-guilty verdict was ultimately due in part to thousands of pages of medical records.
"Our expert, when he testified, said 'You really need to look at these records as a whole and not picking out certain incidents,'" Damelio said.
Rochester Regional Health declined to comment. Deshmukh remains licensed, according to Damelio.
As the newly acquitted doctor took his final steps out of the Hall of Justice, his attorney confidently asserted one thing both men are certain of.
"You talk about maximum medical improvement. That's different for everybody and any issues they may have," Damelio said. "But my client always sought that with his patients."