New York NP Charged in Oxymorphone Conspiracy

What Happened

Michael Ostolski, 55, of North Tonawanda, New York, a nurse practitioner at Acacia Family Health in Lockport, was arrested and charged by criminal complaint in October 2023 with conspiracy to distribute oxymorphone. The complaint alleged he over-prescribed the drug to select patients who agreed to sell the pills and give him the profits. State data showed about 123 prescriptions totaling more than 13,000 pills between August 2021 and September 2023. He was released on conditions. The charge is an accusation only.

“was arrested and charged by criminal complaint with conspiracy to distribute oxymorphone”
U.S. Department of Justice / U.S. Attorney's Office press release, Oct 12, 2023

Related Guidance

15 Red Flags of Drug Diversion — Behavioral and transactional indicators of diversion.
Investigation Playbook — How to investigate suspected diversion inside an organization.

Sources

U.S. Department of Justice / U.S. Attorney's Office press release, Oct 12, 2023

Case at a Glance

Setting: Family health practice (Acacia Family Health)
Drug: Oxymorphone
Method: Allegedly over-prescribed oxymorphone to select patients who sold the pills and returned the profits to him
Status: Arrested and charged by criminal complaint in October 2023; released on conditions; charge only

Source: U.S. Department of Justice

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Where this record connects to the site's working material. Links are chosen from the case's setting, drug and method fields.

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Last reviewed: September 2026 · Educational content, not legal advice.

About the author

DivertGuard is built and maintained by Alex Rodriguez, MHIIM, CPhT (also known as Jesus Rodriguez) — a drug diversion prevention program manager with more than a decade in pharmacy practice, including direct responsibility for a health-system controlled substance diversion prevention program.

Conference presentations

2025 — The Rounding Revolution: A High-Tech Approach to Diversion Prevention (with Emily Spiceland, PharmD)
2024 — No Pill Left Behind: Strategies for Comprehensive Drug Accountability (with Eric Andrews)
2022 — Ready for My Close Up! Implementing, Maintaining, and Expanding Drug Diversion Prevention Cameras (with Jeremy Quinn, Shawn Young, and John Bailey)

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Faculty, ASHP Drug Diversion Certificate
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Published author, Pharmacy Purchasing & Products

Credentials

Doctorate candidate — Doctor of Health Informatics (DHI), Rutgers University, School of Health Professions; research on health data analytics and the prediction of cognitive decline
MHIIM — master's in health informatics, University of Tennessee Health Science Center (2019–2021)
CPhT — Certified Pharmacy Technician, with 10+ years of pharmacy practice across retail, hospice, compounding, home-health, and hospital settings

The assessment items, weighting, and case registry behind this site come from that operational background — building and running a diversion prevention program, not from vendor marketing. Every tool here is free, requires no signup, and is based on published regulatory and professional standards (DEA, Joint Commission, ASHP, CDC).

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