Geraldine Sabatasso, a 50-year-old White woman, died on March 22, 2016, of acute oxycodone intoxication. Her death is described by prosecutors as part of a pattern of overprescribing by her physician after neck surgery; over about six and a half months she allegedly received 35 prescriptions totaling more than 4,000 pills, including large amounts of oxycodone and clonazepam. Investigators say she experienced warning signs in the weeks before her death—falls, dizziness, difficulty walking, shortness of breath and profound weakness—but continued to be prescribed additional sedating medications. Sabatasso died seven days after a mid-March complaint of breathing trouble and weakness, with oxycodone intoxication listed as the cause.

The criminal case focused on her prescriber, Dr. George Blatti, a Nassau County physician whose practice was described as operating in improvised settings. Authorities tied multiple overdoses to the same pattern of high-volume, high-dose prescribing. Prosecutors charged Blatti in connection with several patient deaths, asserting the prescribing demonstrated depraved indifference to human life. Those who knew Geraldine or have information about her care are asked to come forward.