Dr. Hector Castro Charged By DEA Over Oxycodone: "Manhattan Doctor" Or Mexican Doctor?
06/12/2013
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Dr. Hector Castro, a Latino health care advocate, head of the Itzamna Medical Center in Manhattan, was charged by the DEA in March with running a $10 million dollar Oxycodone ring with some people in Pennsylvania.

Dr. Hector Castro, champion of Latino healthcare, busted for slinging $10 million worth of Oxycodone
Dr. Hector Castro and his office manager Patricia Valera are accused of hawking more than $10 million worth of Oxycodone they obtained through the Itzamna Medical Center in Gramercy Park, a health clinic Castro founded in 2001 to aid the city's Hispanic population.

By Christina Boyle AND Shane Dixon Kavanaugh,  NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, March 28, 2013

Dr. Hector Castro Charged By DEA Over Oxycodone: "Manhattan Doctor" Or Mexican Doctor?

A Google search for Doctor Hector Castro shows a lot of stories referring to Dr. Castro as a "Manhattan Doctor" or an "NYC Doctor." As always, I'm curious to find out if he's a Manhattan Spanish doctor, a Manhattan Puerto Rican doctor, or something else Latino.

It turns out he's a Mexican doctor, as you might have guessed from his picture (right). You might also have guessed it from the fact that his clinic was named after Itzamna, the Mayan god of medicine.(Pictured below left.)

He's a graduate of the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara, and there's still a copy of the press release announcing the formation of his clinic on the web page of the Universidad's alumni web page:  UAG Graduates open Medical Center in New York City.

Itzamna, the Mexican AesculapiusSo once again the AP Stylebook rule is followed—when Dr. Castro opens a clinic to treat his compadres (with the help of New York City's tax dollars—Mexicans in New York are largely uninsured) then his origin might be worth mentioning.

But when he's allegedly involved with illegal drugs, he's a "Manhattan doctor."


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