License Suspended For East Brunswick Doc Over 'Bizarre' Behavior

EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ — A Yale-educated physician who practiced in East Brunswick and Somerset had her medical license temporarily suspended this month after a series of “inappropriate and bizarre behaviors” presented a danger to colleagues, patients and coworkers, the state said.

Those alleged behaviors included making vague threats to patients, reeking of alcohol while at work, walking into her East Brunswick office blasting loud music and dancing, and finally, insisting she do a spinal epidural on a patient being treated for knee pain, despite other doctors begging her not to.

Dr. Sharon C. Worosilo, MD, 56, practiced at the New Jersey Pain Management Institute, which she founded and which operated out of locations on Cranbury Road in East Brunswick and Veronica Avenue in Somerset.

She was first investigated by the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners in October, after the Board started getting complaints about her "erratic and possibly delusional" behavior. In this decision made public Tuesday, the Board ultimately found Dr. Worosilo may be under the influence of drugs, alcohol or suffering from a psychiatric illness or untreated medical illness. Numerous phone calls were made to a state agency alleging that Dr. Worosilo was acting erratically and smelled of alcohol while at work.

“Dr. Worosilo’s behavior was so troubling that we had to act quickly to safeguard patients and staff who interact with her,” said New Jersey Attorney General Chris Porrino. “The Board’s decision to suspend her license immediately was necessary to protect those who might have been harmed by her conduct.”

The state Board of Medical Examiners said they first began receiving complaints from multiple people about Dr. Worosilo in late October of this year. This was after an incident on Oct. 16, when Dr. Worosilo allegedly accused a patient of being a drug addict, told the patient to "get the f— out of my office," and then waved a knife in the air in the office reception area, Porrino said. The next day, Oct. 17, she allegedly approached a patient in her East Brunswick clinic with a Duracell battery and told the patient a fellow doctor in the practice "could just put this in you ... and stick it where the sun doesn't shine." Earlier that same day, she had walked into the office "playing vulgar music at a high volume and dancing." Other doctors and staff repeatedly asked her to turn it off, but Dr. Worosilo refused.

"More disturbingly, later that same day (Oct. 17), Dr. Worosilo attempted to perform an epidural injection of the lumbar spine on a patient being treated for knee pain, at a time that Dr. Worosilo was visibly impaired and clearly incapable of performing the procedure," the AG said.

Another doctor told Dr. Worosilo the patient was being treated for knee pain and did not need spinal pain medicine, but Dr. Worosilo "became enraged and yelled at her." She then tried for the next 40 minutes to do the spinal epidural, but was ultimately unable to. This was after repeatedly asking an X-ray technician what she should do next, according to a formal complaint. They were in the operating room while this was all going on and Dr. Worosilo was playing loud music, dancing, asking the patient why he did not know the lyrics and calling him "brotha." The X-ray technician became so upset she ran out of the room.

She also claimed to know President Barack Obama and would yell at her staff when they did not tell her "his people called."

"Dr. Worosilo's erratic, and possibly delusional behavior, prompted multiple individuals to contact the Professional Assistance Program of New Jersey to report concerns about Dr. Worosilo's conduct (to include concerns that she may be abusing alcohol)," said Attorney General Porrino.

The Board of Medical Examiners held a hearing on the matter on Nov. 8 and the Ivy League-educated doctor was ordered to immediately stop practicing medicine and to turn in her license, according to an Order of Temporary Suspension.

According to her biography on the Pain Management Institute website, Dr. Worosilo "completed a Surgical Internship at Yale University, followed by Anesthesiology Residency with sub-specialty training in Pain Management, for which she is board certified. In 1997, Dr. Worosilo founded The New Jersey Pain Management Institute. Since then, she has been named one of New Jersey's Top Doctor's in the field of Pain Management numerous times. Dr. Worosilo is the past Executive Director of The New Jersey Society of Interventional Pain Physicians. Dr. Worosilo has traveled extensively, having visited over 50 countries. She is enamored with the Italian way of life, 'la dolce vita,' and strives to bring joy and positivity to all of her patients. Dr. Worosilo is an avid cyclist, and is currently training for her first century."

Dr. Worosilo can petition to get her license back, but she first must comply with an evaluation for possible substance abuse, a psychiatric evaluation and a comprehensive medical exam. She can petition the Board seeking a return to practice only after the required evaluations. Dr. Worosilo lives in Somerset.

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