17 NJ Doctors Now Face Trouble Because Of Opioids, Drugs, Sex

Seventeen New Jersey doctors have been sanctioned this past year because of sex charges, fraud or inappropriate use or distribution of opioids and other drugs, according to state officials.

The most recent case involved a New Jersey doctor charged with sexual assault who had his medical license temporarily suspended by the state Board of Medical Examiners. He was charged with assaulting a woman twice in his office.

Carl Renner, 67, who practiced in Hasbrouck Heights, was arrested last month and charged with second-degree sexual assault on a female patient who reported the incident three days prior, authorities said.

In a statement recently released by the state Board of Medical Examiners, Renner agreed to the temporary suspension pending the outcome of the criminal investigation and further action of the board.

"Doctors who sexually prey on patients not only break the law, they violate the trust that patients place in their doctors," said New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal. "As the board's action in this case demonstrates, we will move swiftly to intercede in cases where doctors are charged with sexually exploiting their patients."

Read more: Hasbrouck Hts. Doc Charged With Sex Assault Has License Suspended

On June 14, Renner was charged with two additional counts of second-degree sexual assault on another female patient. She alleged that Renner assaulted her during an office visit on May 30 and during another office visit in 2016, the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office announced. Renner denies the allegations filed against him.

Here are other doctors who are facing or have faced sanctions:

"El Chapo of Opioids"

Robert Delagente, 45, of Oakland, the so-called "El Chapo of Opioids," was charged recently with one count of distribution of controlled dangerous substances and one count of obstruction of justice, according to U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito.

Beginning in May 2014, Delagente was a doctor at a medical practice called North Jersey Family Medicine (NJFM) in Oakland, according to a news release from Carpenito. He allegedly described himself in conversations pertaining to his prescribing of painkillers as the “Candy Man” and the "El Chapo of Opioids."

Read more: Oakland's 'Candy Man' Prescribed Drugs For No Reason: US Attorney

Delagente knowingly prescribed controlled substances, such as oxycodone, Percocet, Tylenol with codeine, and various benzodiazepines (alprazolam, diazepam, clonazepam, and temazepam), outside the ordinary course of professional practice and without a legitimate medical purpose., according to the release.

Delagente failed to monitor patients for addiction and ignored drug screening tests to determine whether certain patients were taking illicit drugs, according to the release.

In one instance, an NJFM employee allegedly texted Delagente that a patient had gotten a babysitter and driven a long distance to get to the practice, but had been unable to see a doctor.

Delagente responded: “Oh well … C’est la vie! Lol … He can wait for his oral heroin another day. Lol,” according to the release.

Health care fraud

Vedat Obuz, 54, of Trenton and Delran was charged this past week with health care fraud for billing Medicaid and Medicare for in-person services during periods when he was traveling out of state, Carpenito said.

Between July 2014 and October 2018, Obuz billed Medicaid for $358,779 and Medicare for $57,396 for patient care that took place when he was traveling and was not present at his medical practice. The medical codes used in the billings indicated that Obuz was the treating physician and the services billed for required him to be physically present to see the patients, Carpenito said.

“The doctor-patient relationship is rooted in trust, a trust that is undermined when doctors abandon their professional ethics in pursuit of self-serving criminal activities,” said Paul R. Rodríguez, acting director of the Division of Consumer Affairs. “We believe the vast majority of physicians in this state uphold the highest standards of practice. By bringing enforcement actions such as these, we are protecting the public as well as the integrity of the medical profession.”

Ear, nose and throat specialist in drug ring

George Beecher, an ear, nose and throat specialist in Warren who conspired to supply a drug ring with tens of thousands of high-dose opioid painkillers, recently agreed to surrender his medical licenses, according to a press release from the Office of Attorney General.

“There is no room in New Jersey’s medical profession for physicians who break the law, as these two men did,” said Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal.

Beecher was sentenced to 10 years in state prison last month after pleading guilty to second-degree charges of conspiracy and distribution of oxycodone.

The charges were the result of “Operation Busted Script,” an investigation by the Attorney General’s Prescription Fraud Investigation Strike Team, a team of detectives and attorneys in the Division of Criminal Justice Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau that targets corrupt healthcare professionals and “pill mills.”

Read more: Doctor Faces Jail, 7 Others In Statewide NJ Opioid Drug Ring

The investigation revealed that Beecher, in order to supply the drug ring, wrote prescriptions without a legitimate medical purpose for tens of thousands of 30 mg oxycodone pills in the names of people he never examined, treated, or even met, accoding to the release.

Doctor convicted in bank fraud case

Zahid Aslam, a New Jersey-licensed OB-GYN practitioner who conspired to commit bank fraud in Delaware, agreed to surrender his medical licenses in February for a matter that allegedly did not involve drugs.

Aslam, a 46-year-old resident of Elkton, Md, had practices in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Scotch Plains. In November 2018, he pleaded guilty to a federal charge of making a false statement to a financial institution in connection with a scheme to commit bank fraud.

Warren County Doctor Prescribed “Subsys”

The state Board of Medical Examiners recently revoked the license of a Warren County doctor after he allegedly placed patients at risk by prescribing the tightly-restricted cancer pain medication “Subsys,” according to the Office of Attorney General.

These patients did not meet the criteria for receiving the powerful opioid painkiller even though Kenneth P. Sun accepted more than $100,000 from the drug’s maker, Insys Therapeutics Inc., to push the medication, according to an OAG release.

Sun, a pain management practitioner in Phillipsburg, prescribed an opioid despite restrictions placed on Subsys, a potent under-the-tongue opioid spray approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration, according to the OAG release.

The drug treats breakthrough pain in cancer patients already receiving, and tolerant to, around-the-clock opioid therapy for their underlying cancer pain. Prescribing Subsys outside its approved parameters exposes patients to grave risks, including the risk of a fatal overdose, according to the release.

Sun is also among numerous doctors nationwide who accepted payments from Insys – in the form of speaking and consulting fees – that were, in reality, cash incentives to promote prescriptions of Subsys beyond its approved parameters, according to the release.

“We cannot end the opioid crisis unless we crack down on doctors who put profit over patient care,” said Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal. “Dr. Sun pushed a dangerous opioid painkiller on patients who didn’t need it and weren’t approved to receive it. The revocation of Dr. Sun’s license is simply the latest in a growing list of actions we are taking against the doctors who have fueled this public health crisis.”

Bergen County Loses License For Indiscriminately Prescribing Opioid Painkillers

The State Board of Medical Examiners recently and permanently suspended the license of a Bergen County doctor for indiscriminately prescribing highly addictive opioid painkillers to patients for years, despite "clear signs" they were misusing the drugs or diverting them for illegal purposes, according to the OAG.

Eric Thomas, 44, who practiced internal medicine in North Arlington, allegedly prescribed large amounts of Oxycodone, OxyContin, morphine and other controlled dangerous substances without a legitimate medical purpose to seven patients he treated between January 2012 and May 2015.

Toms River Doctor Temporarily Barred From Prescribing Pain Meds

A Toms River doctor who specializes in pain management has been temporarily suspended from prescribing medication after an investigation that showed he had prescribed opioids to patients who told him they had sold pills.

Bruce M. Coplin, a physiatrist whose office is on Hospital Drive, has been suspended from prescribing any controlled dangerous substances as of Aug. 23 by the state Board of Medical Examiners, according to the disciplinary order on file with the state. Read more here....

South Jersey Doctor's License Revoked After Patient's Death: AG

The State Board of Medical Examiners has permanently revoked the license of a South Jersey doctor it says indiscriminately prescribed a powerful spray form of the painkiller fentanyl to three patients, killing one, Grewal announced.

The fatality is at the center of allegations leveled against the company that makes the powerful opioid-fentanyl drug Subsys and its billionaire founder, John Kapoor.

The state had previously temporarily suspended the license of Vivienne Matalon, who practices in Cherry Hill, in October of 2016, eight days after it filed a Verified Complaint

accusing her of professional misconduct and gross negligence in the indiscriminate prescription of Subsys. Read more here...

5 NJ Doctors Lose Licenses In Illegal Opioid Investigations

Five doctors were recently accused of improperly prescribing opioids, anabolic steroids, and other controlled substances to their patients in New Jersey, costing them their licenses, according to the Office of Attorney General.

The doctors include two convicted on federal charges of illegal drug distribution, according to an OAG release. Read more here...

The doctors who lost their licenses are:

• Jose J. Leyson, a Newark urologist from Long Valley
• Kevin T. Custis, a family physician in Asbury Park from Belle Meade
• William F. Mclay, a family physician in Cape May County
• Bonnie Chen, a West Caldwell internist
• Anthony Enrico, Jr., a Paterson podiatrist from North Haledon.

7 In NJ Charged In Massive Opioid, Health Care Fraud Bust

Seven people in New Jersey – including a doctor – and one in Philadelphia have been arrested in what the Justice Department is calling the "largest health care fraud and opioid enforcement action ever taken," authorities announced on Thursday.

Robert Agresti, a 61-year-old doctor from Essex Falls, recently admitted that from November 2014 through September 2017, he prescribed medically unnecessary compounded prescriptions for a company that sold them, according to authorities.

He was paid $300 cash for every prescription he authorized, regardless of it was medically necessary, authorities said. He signed prescriptions brought to him by other people involved in the scheme without examining or speaking with the patients. Multiple health benefit programs paid more than $8.9 million as a result of Agresti's phony prescriptions, authorities said. Read more here...

State Says Middlesex County Doctor Pushed Painkillers

A Middlesex County doctor had his medical license temporarily suspended recenty after a state investigation found that he indiscriminately prescribed highly addictive opioids in excessive amounts to his patients over the past year, the state alleges.

Eddie Gamao, a general practitioner in Piscataway, voluntarily agreed to temporarily surrender his license to the state Board of Medical Examiners amid allegations he gave his patients painkiller prescriptions that far exceeded the safe limits. This allegedly occurred between February 2017 and February 2018, the state Division of Consumer Affairs said. Read more here...

State Suspends Doctor Accused Of Illegally Prescribing Opioids

A Burlington County doctor who is accused of indiscriminately prescribing addictive opioid pain medications to patients has been temporarily barred from treating patients, Grewal announced.

Louis Spagnoletti, a pain management specialist in Marlton, is accused of treating patients with high doses of powerful opioids for years without justification, sometimes refilling full-month supplies multiple times a month, according to the complaint filed by the state. Read more here...

Sun, meanwhile, wrote more than 775 Subsys prescriptions indiscriminately prescribing the drug to patients who did not have breakthrough cancer pain and/or who were already on stable pain management prescribing routines, the state says. His prescriptions generated more than $4.8 million in revenues for Insys and earned Sun over $117,000 in compensation from the drug company, according the OAG.

“Dr. Sun was willing to violate standards of professional and ethical conduct to enrich himself, without regard for the lives he put at risk,” said Paul R. Rodríguez, acting director of the Division of Consumer Affairs. “There is no place in the medical profession for doctors who sacrifice the safety of their patients in exchange for payments from drug manufacturers, and the Division will continue to provide oversight to prevent such abuses.

Sun, whose license had been temporarily suspended since December 2016, agreed to settle the state’s allegations against him by consenting to the revocation of his license and his New Jersey Registration that allows him to prescribe controlled dangerous substances.

In a Consent Order filed on August 27, the board found that Sun had engaged in the indiscriminate prescribing of controlled dangerous substances and other misconduct that constituted professional misconduct and gross negligence, or gross incompetence, that endangered the health, welfare, and safety of his patients.

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