MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) — Nearly 600 retirees of a major New York commuter railroad are losing their disability benefits in the wake of a widespread scandal that has cost hundreds of millions of dollars and seen at least one physician sent to prison, a federal official said Tuesday.

The decision to cut off the benefits was made last week at a U.S. Railroad Retirement Board meeting in Chicago, said Martin Dickman, inspector general for the board. The action follows last month's sentencing of a physician who admitted inventing "narratives" to justify claims for hundreds of corrupt Long Island Rail Road workers trying to retire on disability for more than a decade.

The employees "were not in fact disabled and could have continued working in their railroad jobs," Dr. Peter Ajemian told a federal judge after pleading guilty this year. He was sentenced to eight years in prison.