East Brunswick Doctor's License Suspended For Opioids

EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ — The state Board of Medical Examiners has permanently suspended the license of an East Brunswick physician who "indiscriminately prescribed opioid painkillers" to patients for years, Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal announced Tuesday.

Dr. Alexander Kulischenko, an internist with a practice in East Brunswick, is now permanently barred from practicing medicine under a Consent Order filed by the Board this week.

Kulischenko is among at least 16 doctors who lost their jobs in New Jersey for alleged bad behavior over the last nine months, joining a growing list of medical practitioners who've run into trouble as the state continues to crack down on physicians who "recklessly disregarded their professional and ethical obligations," according to the Office of Attorney General. Read more: 15 NJ Doctors Lost Jobs In 7 Months Amid Bad Behavior Crackdown

The order also permanently revokes Kulischenko’s controlled dangerous substance registration, which allowed him to prescribe controlled dangerous substances in New Jersey.

“Doctors who indiscriminately prescribe addictive pain medications in violation of their professional obligations and state law place their patients at risk and increase the chances of those drugs falling into the wrong hands,” Grewal said in a media release.

“Each time a dangerous prescriber is taken out of practice permanently, we gain critical traction in our fight to end the opioid addiction epidemic in our state.”

According to the news release, an investigation conducted by the Division of Consumer Affairs’ Enforcement Bureau revealed Kulischenko had prescribed opioid painkillers to certain patients for years without tapering doses, referring the patients to alternate treatment modalities, or utilizing proper monitoring tools.

Kulischenko failed to recognize when it was necessary to refer patients to a pain management physician or addiction specialist, the news release said.

“A review of Dr. Kulischenko’s patient files found they lacked the narcotic contracts, Prescription Monitoring Program database searches, and toxicology screen results required in the treatment of chronic pain management,” said Sharon M. Joyce, Director of New Jersey Coordinator for Addiction Responses and Enforcement Strategies.

“Moreover, we found that a number of his patients were prescribed high doses of opioid pain medications that greatly exceeded guidelines set by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention to reduce the risk of fatal overdoses.”

CDC guidelines advise prescribers to use caution when prescribing opioids and to start with the lowest effective dosage; to carefully reassess the risks and benefits when considering increasing a patient’s dosage to 50 or more “morphine milligram equivalents” (MME) per day; and to avoid increasing dosage to 90 or more MME per day, or to carefully justify a decision to bring a dosage to that level.

According to the news release, in some cases, the opioid Kulischenko prescribed resulted in daily MME values between 800 and 1100.

“Dr. Kulischenko’s conduct cannot be squared with appropriate professional standards,” said Kaitlin A. Caruso, Acting Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs.

“I commend the Board’s decision to permanently suspend his license to protect the public.”

Kulischenko agreed that his voluntary retirement would be deemed a permanent suspension of his medical license in order to resolve allegations stemming from the investigation, said the media release.

Under the terms of the Consent Order, Kulischenko cannot reapply for a medical license or seeking a CDS registration in New Jersey in the future.

He also must divest himself from any current and future financial interest in, or benefit derived from, the practice of medicine, including managing, supervising, or overseeing the medical practice or the provision of healthcare in New Jersey.

Patients who believe that they have been treated by a licensed health care professional in an inappropriate manner can file an online complaint with the State Division of Consumer Affairs by visiting the website or by calling 1-800-242-5846 (toll free within New Jersey) or 973-504- 6200.

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