4 The QUEE NS Courier • AUGUST 18, 2016 for breaking news visit www.qns.com Photo by Suzanne Monteverdi Beer Belly’s on Bell Boulevard looking dark and vacant. BEER BELLY’S BAR IN BAYSIDE HAS REPORTEDLY GONE BELLY UP By Suzanne Monteverdi editorial@qns.com/@QNS A Bayside favorite is suddenly no more. Beer Belly’s bar and restaurant has gone belly up after nearly three years of business. On Aug. 15, a reporter saw the bar virtually empty of all tables and spotted a tag for a liquidator on one of the bar stools apparently ready for resale. Though there is not yet official word of closure on the restaurant’s social media pages or website, both locals and Yelp users have declared the eatery closed after showing up for service and finding the lights off and doors locked since last week. Located at 39-17 Bell Blvd., Beer Belly’s offered traditional bar food as well as unique eats like fried mac and cheese bites, Irish nachos, and the specialty “Belly Buster”: a 10 oz. burger topped with bacon and a fried egg between two grilled cheese sandwiches. The spot also boasted a selection of 50 different beers and 70 different whiskeys, and featured unique at-table taps which allowed customers to refill their own glasses and pay per ounce. The Courier reached out to the owner but received no response. Ex-doctor from Bayside busted for pill pushing By Robert Pozarycki rpozarycki@qns.com @robbpoz Losing his medical license didn’t stop a former Bayside doctor from selling diet pills with dangerous side effects to scores of unknowing patients, according to prosecutors. Steven Bernhard, 66, was arrested at his home on 213th Street on Wednesday morning following a lengthy investigation led by the Special Narcotics Prosecutor for the City of New York. Bernhard was charged with multiple counts of unauthorized practice of medicine, reckless endangerment and fraud and deceit related to controlled substances. Bernhard, who received his license to practice medicine in 1977, had it revoked on Feb. 4, 2013, due to various charges including gross negligence and inappropriate prescribing of controlled substances. Even so, he allegedly continued to see dozens of patients each day out of an office he maintained at 39-21 Bell Blvd. in Bayside. During a court-authorized search of Bernhard’s office in July 2015, detectives recovered 60,000 amphetamine pills and thousands of patient files. The hard copy of his revoked medical license was also recovered. Since the raid, Bernhard’s practice dropped off the radar, leaving some patients on the physician review website Vitals wondering what happened to him. “They shut him down over trumped up charges,” one user lamented. “We lost a great, caring and qualified doctor.” A message board dedicated to phentermine described Bernhard as a go-to doctor to get diet pills. One commenter wrote, “Dr. Steven Bernhard the best !! First time going to his office less than 15 mins got 2 month supply !!” (sic) Investigators found that Bernhard allegedly kept a hard copy of his expired license, enabling him to purchase numerous controlled substances from a wholesale pharmaceutical distributor. These drugs included phentermine and phendimetrazine, which are amphetamines used for weight loss. The wholesaler was unaware that Bernhard’s license had been revoked. Most of Bernhard’s patients were prescribed diet pills, including a 65-year-old woman with a history of heart problems. Prosecutors said this patient was charged $170 per visit and received numerous phendimetrazine pills. On March 10, 2015, Bernhard provided her with a larger supply than usual and charged her $250 for the visit. The following month, prosecutors noted, the patient suffered a heart attack while visiting relatives in Florida and died. Pill bottles bearing Bernhard’s name were found in her luggage. Based on a review of Bernhard’s records and the patient’s file, detectives concluded that he allegedly failed to order routine tests on the patient to ensure she could safely use phendimetrazine before prescribing her the medication. The investigation also concluded that the unlicensed doctor illegally prescribed to family members painkillers such as Vicodin and Percocet, both of which are controlled substances. “His medical license was revoked, but he was still able to obtain millions of pills and prescribe dangerous narcotics, allegedly endangering the health and well-being of his patients,” Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget G. Brennan said. “Even social media sites discussed the ease of obtaining widely abused pills from Bernhard after he lost his license.”
QC08182016
To see the actual publication please follow the link above