18 NJ Docs, Nurse Now Face Opioid, Sex Or Other Criminal Probes

NEW JERSEY – Eighteen New Jersey doctors and a nurse have faced trouble this past year because of sex charges, fraud, a stabbing, inappropriate use or distribution of opioids or other criminal charges, according to state officials.

In one case, the state Board of Nursing recently revoked the license of a registered nurse who repeatedly stabbed a 10-year-old autistic child with a hypodermic needle for disobeying her orders, according to the Office of Attorney General.

In another case that targeted doctors who allegedly took bribes, a Bergen County man was arrested last week for his role in conspiracies to commit health care fraud and to bribe a doctor, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.

Eduard Shtindler, 36, of Paramus, New Jersey, is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and one count of conspiracy to pay illegal kickbacks to a doctor, according to a Carpenito release.

Attorney General Gurbir Grewal promised that his office will move swiftly to defend patients when doctors and nurses not only break the law, but also "violate the trust that patients place" in them.

In the stabbing case, Naomi Derrick of Sicklerville continually threatened the autism child by saying she would give him a needle if he did not behave in an Atlantic City hospital psychiatric unit, according to the OAG.

She then carried through with the threat by jabbing him with it on at least six occasions during a 12-hour overnight shift at the Atlanticare Regional Medical Center in Atlantic City on May 15, 2016, according to the OAG.

In a series of incidents witnessed by a fellow employee or captured on a security camera in the boy’s room, Derrick stuck the child on his upper arm, thigh, kneecaps, foot and hand, frequently drawing droplets of blood, according to the OAG.

“Vulnerable children with special needs should be treated with the highest standard of care,” said Grewal. “The conduct at issue in this case did not only fall far short of that standard, it demonstrated a level of cruelty that has no place in the nursing profession, and is entirely unacceptable.”

The Board of Nursing described Derrick’s conduct as “egregious and disturbing” and concluded that her interaction with the child amounted to gross and repeated acts of negligence, malpractice, incompetence and professional misconduct.

During a hearing, Derrick denied ever touching the boy with the needle but conceded that, throughout the 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. shift, she did continually unsheathe the needle and threaten him with it to “calm him down,” according to the OAG.

The bribery case, meanwhile, focused on Shtindler, who owned and operated Empire Pharmacy – now closed – in West New York, according to the Carpenito release.

From 2012 through early 2017, Shtindler participated in a conspiracy to pay bribes to a psychiatrist in Hudson County to induce the doctor to send prescriptions to Empire. Shtindler sent Empire employees to deliver some of the bribe payments to the doctor, according to the Office release.

On occasion, Shtindler hid cash bribes, in $100 denominations, in pill bottles that were delivered to the doctor. In exchange for these bribes, the doctor steered patients to Empire pharmacy, even though the patients used other pharmacies closer to their homes for all of their other prescriptions, according to the release.

In one recorded conversation between Shtindler and a former Empire employee who had delivered a bribe to the doctor, Shtindler stated: “You think [the doctor]’s going to go to the FBI and rat himself out?” In another conversation with the same former employee, Shtindler said: “First off, I didn’t make you do it. I didn’t put a gun to your head. We all made money together,” according to the release.

Empire dispensed approximately $3 million in medications prescribed by the psychiatrist, according to the release.

Here are other doctors who are facing or have faced sanctions this past year:

Doctor allegedly assaulted a woman in his office

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

Renner subsequently had his medical license temporarily suspended by the state Board of Medical Examiners. He was charged with assaulting the woman twice in his office.

In a statement 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.

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

The woman 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.

"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 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 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, according 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, recently 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 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...