His hospital privileges also were revoked pending the outcome of the charges. Then he drove off. OxyContin came on the market in 1996. The potent painkiller has caused as many as 20 overdose deaths in the Philadelphia area where abusers take it as a substitute for heroin. Patients who take it for medical reasons are supposed to swallow it with water.
Police say abusers are chewing it or crushing it before ingesting it to produce a more intense high.
During a preliminary hearing last week, Assistant District Attorney Stephane Latour said Officer Daniel Rodriguez had tricked Levin into believing he was a drug dealer and a friend of the female patient, who was not identified in court. Rodriguez bragged about running a street-corner drug operation. Levin then gave Rodriguez 200 pills to sell, the cop said. A few hours later, Rodriguez returned to the office and told Levin how successful he had been pushing the pills. Levin, an internist, gave him 200 more and Rodriguez left.