BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Acting U.S. Attorney James Kennedy announced Wednesday that a 166-count indictment against Dr. Eugene Gosy, 56, was returned by a federal grand jury. The new indictment supersedes an indictment handed up in April 2016, adding charges of distributing and dispensing controlled substances, other than for legitimate medical purposes, resulting the death of six patients.

In April 2016, the Clarence doctor was indicted on 114 counts of illegally prescribing narcotics and released on $250,000 bail. Further legal trouble and turmoil followed Gosy’s arrest as his clinic was temporarily shut down to his more than 10,000 patients for weeks.

Gosy has retained his medical license and has seen patients at his Amherst practice under the supervision of another doctor, Dr. James Hitt, since June, 2016. Dr. Gosy is no longer allowed to write prescriptions.

A federal grand jury returned indictments on more counts in November, 2017. Gosy is now charged with:

One count of unlawfully conspiring to distribute and dispense, and to cause to be distributed and dispensed controlled substances, other than for a legitimate medical purpose and not in the usual course of professional practice, resulting in the death of six (6) of his patients; Three counts of unlawfully distributing and dispensing controlled substances, including fentanyl, oxycodone, and tapentadol, each resulting in the death of a patient;

144 counts of unlawfully distributing and dispensing controlled substances, other than for a legitimate medical purpose and not in the usual course of professional practice;

Two counts of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud; and

16 counts of healthcare fraud.

Federal officials say Gosy ignored obvious red flags that his patients were addicted to their medications and abusing them, even increasing the doses for some.

6 patients who died under #Gosy‘s care are largely from #WNY, range in age and how long they’d been patients, according to prosecutors- Jenn Schanz (@JennSchanz4) November 8, 2017

“But for the substances unlawfully prescribed by this doctor they would not have died” – US Attny re: Gosy indictment connected 2 pt. deaths pic.twitter.com/cC2iseBIec– Katie Alexander (@KatieNews4) November 8, 2017

Law firm Colucci & Gallaher, P.C. released a statement on the indictment:

“Dr. Gosy has helped tens of thousands of patients suffering from debilitating painful illnesses and injuries. All medical care has risks, especially when a patient does not follow physician instructions. Every patient death is a tragedy. Thankfully, due to the safeguards Dr. Gosy’s office has in place, his rate of patient overdose death is far below the national average.”

If convicted of the charges connected to patient deaths, Dr. Gosy faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison. He could spend up to life in prison if given the maximum sentence.

“We need to stop the abuse of prescription drugs,” Acting U.S. Attorney James Kennedy said, “and one way to do that is to stop these doctors who prescribe these killer drugs outside the usual course of medical practice, and not for a legitimate medical purpose.”

“While certainly a vast majority, of the medical professionals practicing in our community do so to the highest ethical standards and to the highest standards of care, there are those who do not follow that practice,” he added.

Kennedy says, as Western New York battles a growing opioid epidemic, the prosecution of Dr. Gosy is “turning off the spigot”. Prosecutors say, when they began their investigation, Gosy was writing more prescriptions for controlled substances than any other provider in Western New York, including hospitals. Dr. Gosy is accused of allowing patients to phone in requests for refills and allowing his staff to forge his signature on prescriptions when he was out of town.

The new indictment also alleges that Dr. Gosy and his employees prescribed controlled substances without conducting physical examinations and without monitoring patients appropriately. Prosecutors also say Dr. Gosy circumvented state and federal regulations by prescribing buprenorphine for the treatment of narcotics addiction,

improperly using his regular DEA number, and sometimes labeling the prescriptions as for “pain management,” even when the drug was being prescribed primarily for the purpose of treating narcotics addiction.

Gosy will be arraigned on the new charges in federal court, but remains free on bail.