NEWARK
– Following an Order to Show Cause hearing
on Wednesday December 9, 2009, the State Board
of Medical Examiners temporarily suspended
the license of a Jersey City-based physician.
The
Division of Law’s emergent application,
filed with the Board on December 3, 2009,
sought immediate action by the Board due to
the imminent threat posed by Magdy Elamir,
M.D. to the public safety. Based on proofs
provided by an undercover investigation and
evidence seized from his medical offices,
the Verified Complaint alleged that Dr. Elamir
engaged in a dangerous pattern of indiscriminate
prescribing of Controlled Dangerous Substances.
Dr.
Magdy Elamir, a neurologist, who maintains
multiple offices in Jersey City, will have
his license to practice medicine suspended
beginning on December 23. In the interim period,
Elamir cannot accept new patients, cannot
prescribe any Controlled Dangerous Substances,
and can only see existing patients as they
make other arrangements for medical care.
A
second Jersey City-based physician, Clifton
Howell, M.D., also faced a December 9, 2009
emergent disciplinary hearing before the Board
seeking the immediate suspension of his license
to practice medicine pertaining to similar
charges. However, he voluntarily surrendered
his license until the January, 2010 Board
meeting.
Elamir
and Howell were both arrested on October 20
following undercover investigations, jointly
conducted by the state Office of the Insurance
Fraud Prosecutor and the Jersey City Police
Department. During visits by investigators
and cooperating witnesses posing as patients,
both physicians prescribed highly addictive
medications, including pain relievers Oxycodone
and Percocet, the anti-anxiety medication
Xanax, or expensive, but not medically necessary,
medications such as Advair.
Simply
at the patients’ request, without examining
the patients or seeking information about
whether the patients had medical conditions,
both doctors prescribed the requested medications.
The undercover investigators paid cash or
used a Medicaid beneficiary card to pay the
physicians for the office visits, which allegedly
lasted less than two minutes on numerous occasions.
“The
abuse of prescription pain killers is a national
problem, one we are committed to addressing
here in New Jersey,” Attorney General
Anne Milgram said. “Abuse of pain killers
puts the user at risk and also members of
the public who come into contact with these
impaired individuals.”
“These
two physicians allegedly did not conduct patient
examinations or keep proper patient files,
both serious violations of professional conduct,”
said David Szuchman, Consumer Affairs Director.
“The Board could not allow them to continue
to see patients because of the clear and present
danger to the public.”
The
Board is scheduled to hold disciplinary hearings
for Dr. Howell in January.
Deputy
Attorney General Kay R. Ehrenkrantz is representing
the state in both actions.
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