NEW YORK – Police say a New York City doctor targeted a painkiller-distribution investigation has died of a suspected overdose.
Police in the Buffalo suburb of Amherst, N.Y., told The Associated Press on Friday that Dr. Tomasito Virey died there on Feb. 4 — the same day that authorities in New York shut down the pill operation.
Authorities are awaiting the results of toxicology tests before ruling on whether the death was accidental or a suicide. Prescription drugs were found in the home.
The timing of Virey's death was an odd twist to an investigation that exposed the illegal distribution of more than 5 million highly addictive oxycodone pills with a street value of at least $170 million.
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Associated Press Writer Carolyn Thompson in Buffalo contributed to this report.
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