A world-renowned cardiologist was allowed to continue operating at a prestigious Manhattan hospital after testing positive for cocaine, court records — and the doctor himself — revealed.
Dr. Jeffrey Moses, 64, was accused by his two ex-wives of regularly using cocaine for years, often even before heading to work, the Manhattan divorce records allege.
But after a court-ordered drug test came back positive for cocaine in 2005 and New York-Presbyterian Hospital was informed, he was not suspended from his busy schedule of heart procedures at its Upper East Side and Washington Heights campuses, according to both the records and Moses himself.
Both his ex-wives claimed in the court filings they suffered beatings at the hands of Moses — a superstar heart surgeon who earns a reported $3 million annually performing 600 to 800 procedures each year. The one related arrest against Moses was later dismissed after he served a pretrial probationary period.
In that 2004 case, Moses was busted for allegedly attacking second wife Laurie Levinberg in their multimillion-dollar Park Avenue apartment, according to divorce records.
One of the documents shows that a year later, Moses underwent a court-ordered drug screening.
The screening tested a sample of Moses’ hair — which, unlike urine or blood tests, can detect evidence of drug use dating back months. That test came back positive for cocaine and benzoylecgonine, a chemical produced as the body metabolizes cocaine, according to that document.
In a February 2006 affidavit, Moses said he informed New York-Presbyterian of the results.
Reached by The Post, Moses acknowledged the 2005 test for cocaine did come up positive. He said he told his bosses, but the hospital took no disciplinary action against him.
He claimed that the test result was a “false positive” and said two subsequent tests proved to his superiors he was drug-free.
Asked by The Post if he had ever used cocaine, Moses first answered “no,” then said, “Maybe, back 25 years ago — but I do not, and I have not. Whatever, it’s 30 years ago. I’m not denying 30 years ago.”
He also said he never assaulted either wife. A hospital spokeswoman declined to comment.
Levinberg sued Moses for divorce in 2005 after 22 years of marriage, claiming adultery and cruel treatment, records show. She claimed in court records that Moses “is a severe cocaine addict.”
“When we were married, he did it constantly, day and night, and performed his operations while high on cocaine,” she claimed.
The couple has five children.
She also wrote that when Moses was hired by Lenox Hill Hospital in the late 1980s, “He tested positive for cocaine.”
Shortly after, “I came home one evening and found him sitting on the bed with a knife in his hand,” Levinberg wrote. “He was going to commit suicide because he said that his life was over.” Lenox Hill declined to comment.
Moses denied failing a drug test while at Lenox Hill or threatening to kill himself. Levinberg declined to comment.
In a 2005 affidavit filed in Levinberg’s divorce case, Moses’ first wife, Carin Savel, wrote that during her six-year marriage to Moses, which ended in 1983, “He was a major cocaine user, usually partaking every morning before going to the hospital.”
Savel declined to comment. Moses denied Savel’s allegations.