DRYDEN, N.Y. (WENY) - A medical practice in Tompkins County will pay more than $70,000 for prescribing morphine pills and valium while a patient was using cocaine.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Doctor Howard Silcoff and his medical practice Dryden Family Medical Practice agreed to pay $70,000 to Medicare.

Silcoff admitted that for more than a decade, he prescribed an average of 35 morphine pills per day to the patient. At the same time, he prescribed the patient valium.

The Attorney's Office says that in 2017, Silcoff ordered drug urinalysis screens for the patient which revealed that the patient was using cocaine and was inconsistently taking the valium.

Silcoff did not make any changes to the prescription for 17 months.

Under New York State law, controlled substances can only be issued for a legitimate medical purposes and can only be prescribed in doses recognized as sufficient for treatment.