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The First Degree

Episode 328: Dr. Blatti

The First Degree

Alexis Linkletter and Jac Vanek

True Crime, Society & Culture, News

4.510K Ratings

🗓️ 4 December 2024

⏱️ 38 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On March 22, 2016, a 50-year-old woman passes away in Baldwin, New York. She had been suffering from chronic pain for almost 10 years following surgery, and was found to have died from an opioid overdose. It’s a tragic yet not uncommon story in a country in the grip of a sweeping prescription opioid epidemic. It wouldn’t be until almost two and a half years later that an investigation commenced into not just the woman’s death, but that of three other people who had also died in similar circumstances in the meantime. As law enforcement looks into how the deceased obtained the prescription drugs which had caused their deaths, it became clear that they were all provided by the same physician. But before the doctor could be charged, a fifth person lost their life. In episode 328, Jac and Alexis discuss the shocking case of Dr George Blatti, someone with no regard for the Hippocratic oath, the patients he was obligated to help, or their families.

Transcript

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0:00.0

The first degree.

0:02.0

First degree.

0:03.0

First degree.

0:04.0

First degree.

0:05.0

First degree.

0:06.0

First degree.

0:07.0

The first degree.

0:08.0

You see it on the news.

0:10.0

You see it on the paper.

0:11.0

You see it on Facebook.

0:13.0

These things are supposed to happen in movies, not in real life.

0:16.0

My dad is like always in newsday, and he saw an article and was telling me about it.

0:27.0

And, like, my jaw dropped.

0:28.1

I'm like, what do you mean?

0:29.7

He's been arrested.

0:30.6

What do you mean?

0:31.5

People are dead.

0:32.8

It absolutely blew my mind.

0:34.7

Because it sounds so weird to say it because the guy, you're such a nice guy.

0:38.1

I think he's made some horrible choices that led to some catastrophic events and, like,

0:42.2

I feel horrible for these families. It sounds like there was just like desperation towards the end.

0:47.9

Just trying to get by, but like, you know, at what cost. A lot of these people, they weren't very old.

...

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