Passaic Co. Doctor Loses License Over Opioid Scripts: Prosecutor

PASSAIC COUNTY, NJ — A Passaic orthopedic doctor got his license revoked and is facing criminal charges for prescribing opioid painkillers to patients without a legitimate reason, according to Attorney General Gurbir Grewal.

Evangelos Megariotis, who owned and ran Clifton Orthopedic Associates, P.A., is now permanently barred from practicing medicine and prescribing drugs.

His practice closed down back in December 2018, and he has not practiced medicine since.

The current charges stem from a complaint filed that same year by Grewal, accusing the doctor of misconduct and gross negligence while treating nine patients between 2012 and 2017, keeping patients on pain pills for years without cause.

“Doctors who demonstrate a lack of professional judgment and utter disregard for patient safety by indiscriminately prescribing addictive pain medicine pose a grave danger to their patients and the public at large,” Grewal said. “We will not tolerate this behavior from our licensed professionals.”

Megariotis was also accused of failing to diagnose or treat underlying conditions, improperly treating conditions outside his area of expertise without referring patients to specialists, and performing surgeries without a legitimate need.

In one episode, he discouraged a patient from using illegal narcotics by telling him: “anything that drugs can do on the street, my medications will do better and safer (...) just call me,” according to the prosecutor.

Megariotis denied the allegations against him, testifying in court on his own behalf between January and May 2019.

Before the judge issued any decision, Megariotis entered into a consent order and agreed to voluntarily retire from practice, having his retirement revoked and being banned from reapplying for a license in New Jersey.

He was also ordered to pay $48,000, and is barred from managing or profiting from any type of medicine practice in New Jersey.

“We will not let problem prescribers undermine the efforts of the majority of physicians doing all they can to help bring an end to the opioid epidemic in our state," said Sharon M. Joyce, Director of the Office of the New Jersey Coordinator for Addiction Responses and Enforcement Strategies.

The investigation into Megariotis practice was done by the Enforcement Bureau within the Division of Consumer Affairs.

The accusations stated in the complaint filed against him in 2018 include also:

• Failing to conduct any routine urine or blood testing, or to conduct regular lookups on the New Jersey Prescription Monitoring Program to ensure patients’ proper use of CDS, as required.
• Failing to acknowledge clear signs of potential drug abuse or drug diversion in patients.
• Treating patient complaints of hypertension, upper respiratory issues, attention deficit disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, “car phobia,” and other conditions outside his area of expertise — often with drugs like Xanax, Adderall, and cough syrup with codeine — without a complete history and physical exam, and without referrals to specialists;
• Failing to conduct bloodwork or other tests on three patients to mitigate potential risks.
• Performing surgery on one patient’s knee, and another patient’s shoulder, despite a lack of diagnostic findings to support the medical necessity for the procedures; and
• Prescribing addictive pain medication to patients for years without a pain management plan, as required, and continuing them on high dosages of the drugs even when patients reported no relief from pain.