Bad Doctors: New Jersey Docs Accused Of Sex Abuse, Painkiller Pushing And More

New Jersey has certainly seen its share of physicians behaving badly, from a Montclair doctor who admitted drugging a patient and then ejaculating on her face, to others who prescribed powerfully addictive opiate painkillers, knowing those drugs would only be sold on the black market. And we didn't even get into New Jersey's ongoing "bribes for blood" scheme, where 50 doctors and healthcare providers across the state have been arrested for referring blood tests in exchange for cash kickbacks. Here, Patch rounds up 10 of the worst "Bad Doctors" in the state:

Dr. James Morales, Toms River: Dr. Morales, 47, a sports medicine doctor, operated Shore Sports Medicine in Toms River. He admitted he accepted bribes in exchange for referring patients to a compound pharmacy in Lakewood. He pleaded guilty in July 2015 to accepting over $60,000 in cash bribes in return for referring pain cream prescriptions and falsifying health records on behalf of Prescriptions R Us (PRU). Authorities say his illegal patient referral scheme allowed him and other doctors to commit health insurance fraud and maximize the payouts they received. Those charges remain pending. His medical license was suspended and he was sentenced to one year in prison.

Dr. Raja K. Jagtiani, Bergenfield: This Bergen County internist is accused of improperly touching not only five of his female patients, but also three women who worked for him. One of his employees said he touched one of her breasts and bit her cheek while they were working July 25, 2015, according to the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office. On Sept. 24, 2016, Jagtiani pleaded guilty in Bergen County Superior Court to one count of criminal sexual contact involving all eight victims. His medical license was revoked and he is barred from applying for a license reinstatement for 10 years. Prior to the granting of any application, Jagtiani must demonstrate he has completed an educational course on professional boundaries and undergone competency and psychosexual evaluations.

Dr. Saad Saad, Eatontown: Pediatric surgeon Dr. Saad, 72, lives in Red Bank but works at Meridian Pediatric Surgical Associates in Eatontown. Prosecutors say he molested a 17-year-old female patient in his office on May 1 of this year and they had enough evidence to get a grand jury indictment in July. If convicted, Dr. Saad faces a sentence of five to 10 years in a New Jersey state prison. He is affiliated with Jersey Shore University Medical Center and Monmouth Medical Center.

Dr. Vincent Esposito, Madison: Dr. Esposito, 58, was accused of prescribing thousands of highly addictive oxycodone painkillers to patients without a medical exam. And many of those patients did not have a medical need for the drug, prosecutors say. He conspired with a Madison pharmacist, see below. Dr. Esposito, 58, pleaded guilty to second-degree narcotics distribution in 2014 and had his medical license revoked that same year. He was at one time a pillar of his community: He had an office on Main Street in downtown Madison, was the team physician for the Madison High School football team and served as a Madison town councilman.

Pharmacist Srinivasa Raju, Madison: Federal investigators say Dr. Esposito conspired with pharmacist Srinivasa Raju, who operated the now-closed Bottle Hill Pharmacy in Madison. Raju provided oxycodone to certain cash-paying customers without any prescription and then had Esposito write prescriptions to cover his activity at the end of the month, federal investigators say. One of those "patients" was actually a cooperating source for the DEA‎; Raju filled an oxy script for him on three occasions without prescriptions, knowing he was a drug dealer, investigators said. He was convicted in 2016 for both conspiracy and distribution of oxycodone. Raju tried to say in court he was naive to the scheme, but Superior Court Judge Salem Vincent Ahto didn't buy it. "I think you knew what you were doing," Judge Ahto said, according to the Daily Record. "I can't believe you were a licensed pharmacist in this state and you don't realize the seriousness of opiate addiction."

Dr. Clifton Howell, Jersey City: Dr. Howell, who lives in West Orange but practiced in Jersey City, was sentenced to three years in prison after admitting in 2011 that he took part in a statewide Medicaid scam. As a licensed doctor, he would file prescription drug Medicaid claims for his patients. Officials said that while Medicaid paid out the claims, his patients were never given the drugs. According to the Attorney General, Dr. Howell was part of a larger ring that unlawfully distributed prescription pain pills, such as OxyContin and Percocet, on the black market in Morris, Bergen, Ocean, Hudson, and Monmouth counties.

Dr. David Newman, Mount Sinai Hospital, New York City: Dr. Newman, a 46-year-old resident of Montclair, admitted in court in January of this year to molesting four different women who sought treatment in the ER of the Upper East Side hospital. The women, ages 18-29, came in complaining of illnesses ranging from a headache, cold and rash between August and October 2015. The fourth victim came into the ER with routine shoulder pain. She said Dr. Newman gave her the powerful sedative propofol, leaving her unable to move and defenseless, and then ejaculated on her face, according to the Manhattan District Attorney. "What I did was awful and disgusting, and I’m sorry," Newman, a father of two, said during his sentencing, the New York Times reported. "I’m sorry to everyone involved. I’m sorry to physicians everywhere and patients everywhere." He was sentenced to two years in prison and must register as a sex offender upon release.

Dr. John Vecchione, Mount Olive: Dr. John Vecchione, an oral surgeon who operated at North Jersey Oral, Maxillofacial and Reconstructive Surgery in Budd Lake, had his license suspended in September of 2016 after the New Jersey State Board of Dentistry linked him to 15 bacterial infections of the heart called endocarditis. One of Dr. Vecchione's patients died from the infection, the man's wife says. The investigation began after one of his patients was diagnosed with endocarditis five weeks after Dr. Vecchione pulled his two wisdom teeth. Health investigators then identified three more cases that followed surgery from Dr. Vecchione's practice and later discovered 15 patients in all had been infected. Lawyers filing a class-action suit against Dr. Vecchione think there are more out there. The infection was likely caused during the use of IVs to sedate patients before surgery, according to state officials. State health investigators inspected Vecchione's practices and found non-sterile products, storage issues and poor hand hygiene. What's the latest on this? Dr. Vecchione offered to settle with the state board, but they rejected his offer and said they will continue investigating his practice.

Dr. Kenneth Lewandowski, Red Bank: Opiate addiction in New Jersey is rampant and this Red Bank doctor was a part of the problem, law enforcement says. Dr. Ken Lewandowski lives in Middletown but he used to run a pain management practice in Red Bank. That's where Lewandowski admitted he and his office manager Thomas Menendez ran a scheme for months: The doctor wrote fake prescriptions for Oxycodone painkillers, which Menendez then sold for $300-$400 a piece on the black market. Dr. Lewandowski's license was actually suspended at the time, but he wrote the scripts on stolen prescription pads in the name of another doctor. Lewandowksi lost his medical license for good and was sentenced to six years in state prison after pleading guilty in 2016. It was an unnamed Middletown pharmacy that grew suspicious about the scheme after a "patient" of Dr. Lewandowski's kept coming in to get scripts filled. The pharmacy called in a tip to Middletown police.

Dr. Farooq Rehman, Old Bridge: This 63-year-old neurologist, who lives in Colts Neck but practiced in Old Bridge, has been accused of fondling two different patients. He was arrested in 2015 after the first patient accused him of groping her at his Old Bridge office. The 37-year-old woman said he groped her buttocks, fondled her bare breasts and touched her genital area over her clothing during an exam. She said it happened twice and secretly recorded one of the incidents. Another patient then came forward with a similar allegation. After police showed the video to the State Board of Medical Examiners, Dr. Rehman lost his license this year. He also pleaded guilty to criminal sexual contact and harassment of his patients.

Photos of the physicians provided by state or federal investigators.