By Alex Davidson
A Forest Hills physician, whose wife was accused in July of setting his office on fire, has himself now been charged with secretly adding the anti-psychotic drug Risperdal to cranberry juice from which his wife and 8-year-old daughter drank, the Queens district attorney said.
DA Richard Brown said Allan Levin, 52, of 1698 Route 25A Laurel Hollow in Syosset, L.I., had been charged with reckless endangerment, attempted assault and endangering the welfare of the child Sept. 25. Levin faces up to seven years in prison if convicted.
“The defendant is alleged to have placed the drug known as Risperdal into cranberry juice which his wife and young daughter drank, thereby creating a grave risk of death to both of them because his wife drove herself and her child in her automobile while dangerously overmedicated,” Brown said in a statement.
He said he referred the matter of Levin’s medical licensing to the state.
Kristine Smith, spokeswoman for the state Department of Health, Office of Medical Conduct said no disciplinary action had been taken against Levin.
“Conviction of a crime is a category of misconduct, not accusation of a crime,” she said.
Levin, an ear, nose and throat doctor, has a medical office at Parker Towers in Forest Hills.
His wife, Leena Levin, 41, was charged in July with arson for allegedly setting her husband’s office on fire March 24. She is being held without bail on Rikers Island and faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted.
After her arrest, Leena Levin told investigators she suspected her husband was cheating on her and admitted vandalizing her husband’s car, Chief Fire Marshal Louis Garcia said in August.She was also arrested in 1995 for driving while intoxicated, Garcia said.
According to the charges, Allan Levin put Risperdal into cranberry juice that his wife and daughter drank on several occasions between Nov. 1, 2001 and July 2002.
Brown also contended that Levin refilled prescriptions in the name of his wife for Risperdal at a Forest Hills pharmacy.
Leena Levin was already taking Seroquel, another anti-psychotic drug, which her psychiatrist prescribed for sleeping trouble, according to Brown.
Allan Levin was released Sept. 24 after his arraignment hearing. Another court date has been set for Oct. 9.
Reach reporter Alex Davidson by email at TimesLedger@aol.com or by phone at 229-0300, Ext. 156
