Manhattan AIDS Doc Collared

Dr. Ramon Torres, a noted HIV/AIDS researcher and former medical director of NYC's St. Vincent's AIDS Center, was arrested Wednesday for grand larceny and unlawful practice of medicine without a license. Torres is charged with submitting thousands of dollars of fraudulent Medicare claims and for continuing to treat patients after being suspended last year for drug and alcohol abuse. Torres worked for St. Vincent's from 1990-1998, then moved to Beth Israel until 2001, when they suspended him for suspicion of impairment.

Torres has received numerous research grants from many pharamceutical companies, the National Institute of Health, and AMFAR, and is listed as a contributor on TheBody.com, an HIV/AIDS information site. Torres is very well known in Manhattan's gay and medical communities.