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Manoj Patharkar doctor has been permanently stripped of his medical license for overprescribing a painkiller, the New Jersey State Board of Medical Examiners said
SOUTH AMBOY – After pleading guilty to criminal charges of money laundering and fraud last month, a doctor had his medical license revoked by the New Jersey State Board of Medical Examiners for engaging in “gross malpractice” by indiscriminately prescribing painkillers, the board announced Tuesday.
Manoj Patharkar, of South Amboy, who owns Pain Management Associates of Central Jersey in Edison and Prospect Pain Management in Passaic, prescribed the oral spray painkiller Subsys to patients with conditions that were not approved to be treated by the drug, according to the board.
“Dr. Patharkar recklessly ignored the well-established risks associated with Subsys, and put his patients in grave danger of overdose or death by flouting the strict rules for prescribing it,” said Steve Lee, director of the Division of Consumer Affairs, in a news release. “His reckless prescription of this powerful drug, coupled with the crimes he committed in connection with his pain management centers, renders him unfit to practice medicine in the State of New Jersey.”
The revocation of Patharkar’s license is the latest enforcement in a crackdown on doctors who fail to follow prescribing restriction on Subsys, which is a form of fentanyl, according to the board.
“A permanent revocation of Dr. Patharkar’s license is the only way to ensure he will do no further harm to the public,” Lee said.
Patharkar also pleaded guilty in Middlesex County Superior Court last month to criminal charges stemming from fraud and money laundering schemes in connection with his medical businesses.
According to the state Attorney General’s office, he hid approximately $3.6 million in income from his medical practices to evade taxes. He was also convicted for using money from the schemes to pay illegal kickbacks to other professionals for patient referrals to his practices.
“Patharkar not only stole from the state and its honest taxpayers by hiding millions of dollars in income, he crookedly used the money to pay illegal kickbacks to doctors to refer patients to his pain clinics,” said Elie Honig, director of the Division of Criminal Justice, in a news release.
In his guilty plea, Patharkar admitted to evading roughly $327,000 in state taxes by fabricating employee payroll and wage expenses totaling over $2.1 million and by diverting over $1.4 million in checks written for medical services provided by his businesses into personal bank accounts, according to the state Attorney General’s office. He further admitted that he used laundered funds to pay commercial bribes to doctors who unlawfully referred patients to his pain clinics. The investigation revealed that he paid kickbacks totaling up to $1.5 million to 13 doctors.
The state will recommend that Patharkar be sentenced to up to 10 years in state prison, including five years of parole ineligibility. He will be required to pay an anti-money laundering penalty of $500,000, according to the state Attorney General’s office.
Subsys is the brand name of one of six transmucosal immediate release fentanyl (“TIRF”) medications that instantly deliver the powerful painkiller fentanyl through the oral membranes, according to the State Board of Medical Examiners. The federal Food and Drug Administration has approved TIRF substances, including Subsys, strictly for the management of breakthrough pain in adult cancer patients who are already receiving, and who are tolerant to, around-the-clock opioid therapy for their underlying persistent cancer pain.
The high risk for abuse, addiction and overdose associated with Subsys resulted in the drug’s strict restrictions. Doctors intending to prescribe Subsys must enroll in an access program that requires prescribers to undergo educational training about the drug’s risk and must enroll their Subsys patients in the program.
After having his medical license revoked effective Nov. 25, Patharkar must divest himself from any current and future financial interest in or benefit derived from the practice of medicine, and will be banned from managing, supervising or overseeing the practice of medicine or the provision of healthcare in New Jersey.
Patients who believe they were prescribed Subsys in violation of the FDA restrictions should contact the Division of Consumer Affairs by calling 1-800-242-5826 or 973-504-6200.
Staff Writer Nick Muscavage: 908-243-6615; ngmuscavage@gannettnj.com