Originally Posted - December 26, 2006

return home

SCHENECTADY---Prosecutors have reduced the charges against a Schenectady doctor, known for making house calls, who was arrested in June for operating what authorities then labeled a mobile pharmacy.

David Hornick, 63, was originally charged with three felony counts of possession of controlled narcotics. Prosecutors have now downgraded those charges to three misdemeanors of failing to properly store and discard prescription drugs.

Robert Carney, Schenectady County district attorney, said it had been determined that Hornick was not using or selling the drugs.

In June, authorities charged Hornick with carrying morphine, methadone and fentanyl in his car. Prosecutors alleged that he was taking prescription medications from his patients and allegedly selling them on the black market.

Hornick works out of his Niskayna home. He also faces a misdemeanor count of possession of stolen property.

Police had said Hornick was skimming pills from current patients as well as patients who had died. Police said that they found nearly 2,000 pills in the trunk of his car when he was arrested outside the CVS Pharmacy on Eastern Ave., in Schenectady.

Hornick became under suspicion when one of his patients reported him for acting strangely. She also said that the pills he was giving her were not controlling her pain. Upon contacting the pharmacy that was handling her prescriptions, she learned that although there were a number of prescriptions in her name, she was not receiving them. Police said that the labels had been removed from the pill containers in Hornick's trunk so they could not be traced.

Hornick's attorney, Kent Sprotberry, has labeled the complainant as a disgruntled patient.

Hornick was listed as a staff physician at Homedical Associates of Niskayuna. Most of the patients he served were homebound and on Medicare. 12-26-06

© 2006 North Country Gazette