Red Bank Podiatrist's License Suspended: Attorney General

NEWARK, NJ – A Red Bank podiatrist has had his medical license suspended over charges he prescribed highly addictive narcotics to patients without a legitimate medical purpose to 13 people, including one patient who was later found dead in a hotel room, state Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino announced Monday.

Red Bank podiatrist Dr. James Ludden has had license suspended by the the state Board of Medical Examiners.

“Physicians who indiscriminately prescribe highly addictive narcotics without a legitimate medical purpose are feeding the alarming rise in opioid addiction and overdose deaths plaguing our state,” Porrino said. “Keeping prescription pads out of the hands of unscrupulous doctors is a key component in our fight against the opioid and heroin crisis gripping New Jersey.”

“There is zero tolerance for doctors who blatantly abuse their authority to prescribe medication, as these two allegedly did,” said Steve Lee, director of the Division of Consumer Affairs. “By taking these actions, the board has upheld its duty to protect the health and safety of the public and enforce the standards of the medical profession.”

According to the consent order temporarily suspending Ludden’s license, the board began investigating the Red Bank podiatrist after receiving information that he was engaged in the indiscriminate prescription of CDS, Porrino said.

The investigation determined he had authorized prescriptions to 13 individuals for medications outside the scope of his podiatric license, including testosterone, Adderall, and generic versions of the drugs Xanax and Ativan, he said.

Ludden also prescribed large quantities of CDS, including fentanyl, morphine sulfate, and generic versions of the drugs Xanax and Dilaudid, to a male patient and his 93-year-old mother, according the consent order, he said.

Ludden admitted he had prescribed CDS in the elderly woman’s name as a “favor” to the patient, even though Ludden had never examined her. The patient was later found dead in a hotel room at his son’s wedding, Porrino said.

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