CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. — A New York physician has been arrested on charges he illegally distributed the painkiller Oxycodone.

Dr. Leonard Stambler of Baldwin Harbor was awaiting an initial court appearance Thursday in U.S. District Court in Central Islip. The name of his attorney was not immediately known.

An affidavit seeking Stambler’s arrest said he was prescribing large numbers of Oxycodone pills. They were given to patients who were believed to be reselling or abusing the painkillers.

Authorities said Stambler did not work out of a medical office, but instead drove around to patients’ homes to deliver the pills.

A national epidemic of painkiller abuse got public attention earlier this year when four people were killed in a Long Island pharmacy during a holdup. The killer admitted “shopping” for cooperative doctors for drugs.