State Revokes Belmar Physician's License For 'Gross And Repeated Malpractice'

by Alexis Tarrazi

A Union County doctor was stripped of his medical license for "gross and repeated" malpractice including giving unnecessary steroid injections to patients, creating fictitious patient records, and indiscriminately prescribing pain pills without medical justification, according to the NJ Office of Attorney General.

Dr. Amgad Hessein -- who owned Advanced Pain Management Specialists in Newark, Union, Belleville, and South Orange -- was deemed a “fundamentally corrupt and/or incompetent practitioner” who showed a “shocking disregard for patient safety and welfare" by the Board of Medical Examiners.

Hessein, 59, of Belmar, must also pay a $130,000 civil penalty, and reimburse the state $308,750 for its investigative and prosecuting costs, under the Board’s Final Decision and Order.

The Board's decision follows a recommendation made by the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ), who found that Hessein had engaged in repeated acts of gross negligence, fraud, and other violations of state statutes and regulations.

Among the misconduct the Board cited:

• Administering steroid injections without medical justification and/or failing to stop administering ineffective steroid injections.
• Failing to inform patients of potential, serious risks before performing injections.
• Neglecting to follow up on patients’ potentially dangerous symptoms and complaints.
• Failing to monitor vital signs of patients under sedation.
• Refilling pain medication prescriptions without medical justification.
• Allowing and billing for unlicensed employees to render physical therapies.
• Creating fictitious patient records and submitting health claims based on those false records.

“By revoking Dr. Hessein’s license, the Board has upheld its commitment to protect the health, safety and welfare of the public,” stated Steve Lee, Acting Director of the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs in a release. “The egregious conduct and blatant malpractice demonstrated by Dr. Hessein erodes that trust, puts patients at risk, and will not be tolerated in New Jersey.”

Hessein is also under criminal indictment for health care claims fraud.

He is awaiting trial in Union County on charges of conspiracy, health care claims fraud, and theft by deception, according to the NJ Attorney's Office.

Hessein, along with his office manager, is charged of submitting more than $1.5 million in fraudulent Medicare and private health care claims between 2006 and 2010. His license has been temporarily suspended since shortly after his indictment in 2011, according to the NJ Attorney's Office.

His trial is set to begin on June 20.