State Says Rumson Printing Company's Security Failures Allowed Suspended Doctor To Write Prescriptions

A Rumson-based company will not be allowed to print prescription blanks for at least six months because its security failures enabled a suspended Middletown doctor to write unauthorized prescriptions, the state said.

The state Division of Consumer Affairs has terminated Rumson-based Nelson Press’ authorization to act as a printer or vendor of prescription blanks.

No one from the company has been criminally charged, but the state says the company’s failure to follow security procedures allowed a suspended doctor, Kenneth Lewandowski, to write unauthorized prescriptions for painkillers in another doctor’s name.

“To a drug dealer, a prescription blank is a license to print money,’’ acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman said in a prepared statement. “The companies that make these blanks must follow important security procedures such as verifying the identity of any so-called doctor who orders them. Failure to follow these rules can expose the public to addiction, overdose, and death.”

According to a news release from the Division of Consumer Affairs:

Lewandowski, of Middletown, was arrested in December by Middletown detectives, who worked on the case with investigators from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and the state Division of Consumer Affairs. Lewandowski was charged with multiple counts of conspiracy, forgery, and unlawful practice of medicine. He is accused of running a prescription drug ring.

Months before his arrest - in April 2014 - Lewandowski agreed to a voluntary suspension of his medical license. The state Board of Medical Examiners sought that suspension after learning that within two months, the doctor had been arrested three times and charged with driving while intoxicated.

Last month, the Prosecutor’s Office arrested an alleged co-conspirator, physician assistant Ronald J. Scott, who was charged with multiple counts of unlicensed practice. After his arrest, Scott entered into an interim consent order with the state, and his license to practice as a physician assistant has been temporarily suspended.

In October - before his arrest, but after his license was suspended - Lewandowski used the name of another doctor to order 1,200 prescription blanks from Nelson Press. That physician was a victim in the scheme - he did not know Lewandowski was using his name.

Lewandowski lied to workers at Nelson Press, saying he’d hired the other doctor to work in his Middletown practice. Lewandowski gave Nelson Press copies of that doctor’s state medical license and federal registration to prescribe controlled substances.

Soon after, Lewandowski called Nelson Press to order another 400 prescription blanks in the name of the same doctor, as well as in the name of Scott, the physician assistant who was Lewandowski’s alleged co-conspirator. Lewandowski told Nelson Press representatives that Scott was being supervised by the other doctor.

Nelson Press sent copies of the prescription blank proofs to Lewandowski and Scott for approval, and the company allowed Lewandowski to pick up the order at its Rumson facility. At the time, the company’s representatives knew Lewandowski only as “Ken,” and failed to verify his identity. By law, prescription blanks are required to be delivered to a doctor’s address of record.

The doctor who was a victim of the scheme happened to do a routine check of the state’s prescription drug registry - the New Jersey Prescription Monitoring Program (NJPMP). When he searched the database for prescriptions written in his own name, he found multiple prescriptions for OxyContin and other highly addictive narcotics that had been falsely written in his name, for people who were not his patients.

During the investigation, the owner of Nelson Press acknowledged that the company failed to contact that physician to confirm the orders.

Nelson Press entered into a consent order with the state, which terminated the company’s ability to act as a vendor of state prescription blanks.

In six months, the company can apply for a new authorization, but if that authorization is approved, the company would be subject to a 2 1/2-year minimum probationary period. During that period, it would have to pay for independent audits of its ordering and printing processes every six months.

“If not for one doctor’s use of the New Jersey Prescription Monitoring Program, this alleged scheme might have remained undetected, and continued to endanger the public,’‘ Division of Consumer Affairs acting Director Steve Lee said in a prepared statement. “We urge all physicians to bring the NJPMP into their daily practice, in order to stop prescription fraud.”

The Division of Consumer Affairs Enforcement Bureau conducted the investigations, in partnership with the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and Middletown Police Department. Senior Deputy Attorney General Sandra Dick and Deputy Attorney General David Puteska represented the state in the matter of Nelson Press. Francine Widrich, Matthew Wetzel and Rachel Glasgow also played instrumental roles in the matter. Deputy Attorney General Bindi Merchant represented the state in the Scott matter.