Passaic Co. Doctor Illegally Prescribed Opiods, Xanax, Indicted With 34 Counts: Feds

CLIFTON, NJ — A Passaic County doctor's legal woes grew with an indictment Wednesday on 34 counts of illegally prescribing 34 controlled substances to his patients. Evangelos Megariotis prescribed several drugs without legitimate medical purposes, including oxycodone, Xanax, cough syrup with codeine and stimulants, according to federal authorities.

Megariotis was an orthopedic surgeon who owned and operated Clifton Orthopedic Associates. The illegal prescriptions occurred from November 2016 to February 2018, according to the indictment.

He voluntarily retired from his practice to settle several allegations the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General brought against him in 2018. The allegations went back to 2012. New Jersey permanently banned Megariotis last year from practicing medicine.

The U.S. Justice Department previously accused Megariotis, 68, of illegally prescribing more than 1.4 million tablets of oxycodone and over 450 gallons of promethazine with codeine cough syrup to his patients.

The state alleged Megariotis over-prescribed painkillers even when his patients abused them and procured similar prescriptions from other doctors.

If convicted in the recent indictment, Megariotis faces up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine for prescribing opioids and stimulants. The counts charging illegal prescribing of alprazolam (Xanax) are punishable by up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The charges of illegal prescriptions of cough syrup with codeine carry up to one year in prison and a $100,000 for anyone convicted.

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