15 NJ Doctors Lost Jobs In 7 Months Amid Bad Behavior Crackdown

NEW JERSEY – Fifteen doctors lost their jobs in New Jersey for alleged bad behavior over the last seven months, joining a growing list of medical practitioners who've run into trouble as the state continues to crack down on physicians who "recklessly disregarded their professional and ethical obligations," according to the Office of Attorney General.

The sanctions came as Attorney General Gurbir Grewal's office continues to lead his statewide crackdown on reckless medical practices through the New Jersey Coordinator for Addiction Responses and Enforcement Strategies, or NJ CARES.

The OAG has successfully petitioned the State Board of Medical Examiners to suspend or revoke the professional licenses of dozens of doctors who have "recklessly disregarded their professional and ethical obligations, or subjected them to other professional discipline," the OAG said.

Many of these actions were taken on an "emergency basis" to deal with inappropriate behavior as well as to stem the flow of opioids to patients and other users, the OAG said.

New Jersey also has recovered $21 million from two companies looking to profit of the opioid epidemic. First, New Jersey settled its case against Insys Therapeutics founder John Kapoor for $5 million. Kapoor had been accused of orchestrating a scheme to boost sales of the company's Subsys product.

Then, Grewal announced that the state would see $16 million from a settlement with McKinsey & Company, which was accused of developing aggressive marketing strategies used by some of the nation's largest opioid manufacturers, including Perdue Pharma.

The money made from these settlements will be used in New Jersey's ongoing crackdown against opioid abuse, which began in 2019.

Here were the others sanctioned by the State Board of Medical Examiners, which oversees medical licenses, over the last seven months:

• On March 11, Andres Vinuela's license was suspended for three years retroactive to July 15, 2019. Vinuela, a psychiatrist, admitted he engaged in inappropriate sexual contact with a 30-year-old woman, the board said. He maintained a practice at Palisades Behavioral Care in West Orange and Jersey City.
• On Feb. 24, Thomas Duffield's license was suspended. His license had been suspended in Pennsylvania after he was convicted of drug possession in 2018.
• On Feb. 17, Jennifer Neita's license was suspended. Her license had been suspended in New York because of her "deviation from minimally acceptable standards of care in her treatment of patients," the board said.
• On Feb 11, Chikesie Aguh, who has a practice in Somerset, surrendered his license temporarily after he was charged with one count of sexual assault, the board said.
• On Dec. 21, the state suspended the license of Nandavar K. Ramchandra after a relapse into alcohol abuse. He first surrendered his license due to alcohol abuse in December 2005, but it was reinstated with provisions in 2011, after five years of sobriety. It was suspended again in 2013, but reinstated in 2016 with stipulations that included mandating him to practice only in the presence of another physician who was aware of his history, the board said. Those provisions were removed in 2019 on the condition that he remains 100 percent abstinent, but his license was once again suspended in December for violating that provision.
• On Nov. 23, the state announced that it had revoked the license of Alexandru Burducea, who was recently sentenced to nearly five years in prison by a New York federal court for his role in the Subsys kickback scheme.
• Chemaly Phillipe Chemaly Jr., voluntarily surrendered his CDS registration, effective Nov. 25, after accusations that he indiscriminately prescribing large amounts of opiates and other controlled dangerous substances without required examinations. He also ignored limitations placed on prescribing the drugs, didn’t reevaluate treatment plans and didn’t maintain adequate records for these patients. He was first charged on Sept. 11, 2020, according to authorities.

• The state revoked Dr. Michael Goldis’ license after he was indicted on Oct. 2, 2019, on charges of conspiracy to commit health fraud. Authorities said he wrote prescriptions for patients he didn’t have a relationship with, without determining that the patients needed the prescriptions, without considering other medications first, and without seeing the patients, the board said. His license was revoked effective Oct. 30, 2020.
• Robert McGrath retired his license on Oct. 13, 2020, after serving two years, six months in prison for defrauding Medicare and other health benefit programs out of $890,000. He admitted to the charges on June 13, 2017, and was sentenced on Dec. 18, 2017, according to authorities.
• Chang Kang permanently retired his license on Oct. 9, 2020, after he was accused of indiscriminately prescribing large amounts of opiates and other controlled dangerous substances without required examinations. He was initially charged in 2019, and told the State Board of Medical Examiners that he maintained his patients on the CDS regimens they already had when they came to him, and had little success weaning them off them, according to authorities.
• On Oct. 8, Pramila Byahatti permanently retired her license retroactively to July 2, 2020, for indiscriminately prescribing large amounts of opiates and other controlled dangerous substances without required examinations. She also failed to order appropriate diagnostic testing, monitor her patients’ use of CDS, and appropriately screen for possible substance abuse, authorities said.
• On Oct. 8, 2020, Jerome Goodman permanently retired his license over accusations he prescribed controlled dangerous substances (CDS) without sufficient medical knowledge.
• On Sept. 24, 2020, the state revoked the license of former Rutgers University doctor James Goydos, of East Brunswick. Goydos pleaded guilty to second-degree official misconduct, second-degree wrongful possession of an assault rifle, second-degree computer theft, third-degree burglary, third-degree computer theft and fourth-degree identity theft in December of last year. Previous charges that he filmed women while they used the bathroom were dropped. Read more here: Ex-Rutgers Cancer Doc Admits To Theft, Sentenced To Jail
• On Sept. 4, 2020, the state revoked the license of James Agresti, who admitted to writing prescriptions out to one person, but giving them to someone else. He denied other allegations of gross and repeated negligence in the examination, diagnosis and treatment of several other patients he wrote prescriptions for. Authorities said he wrote prescriptions for large quantities of CDS for extended periods without medical justification.

In 2019, Attorney General Gurbir Grewal launched a new office to lead his statewide crackdown on reckless medical practices amid the worsening opioid crisis: the New Jersey Coordinator for Addiction Responses and Enforcement Strategies, or NJ CARES.