An internist in Fair Lawn, N.J., has been charged with unlawfully distributing opioids, soliciting sexual favors from patients and defrauding New Jersey Medicaid, the Justice Department said in a July 18 news release.
What happened?
- Ritesh Kalra, MD, allegedly operated a “pill mill,” prescribing high-dose opioids like oxycodone and promethazine with codeine without a legitimate medical reason.
- Between January 2019 and February 2025, Dr. Kalra issued more than 31,000 oxycodone prescriptions, with records showing he sometimes wrote over 50 in a single day.
- Multiple female patients accused Dr. Kalra of sexual misconduct, including demands for sexual favors in exchange for prescriptions, and one patient reported repeated sexual assaults.
- He is also accused of billing Medicaid for appointments and counseling sessions that never occurred, using fabricated and nearly identical medical notes that omitted vital signs.
- Dr. Kalra faces three counts of distributing opioids outside the bounds of professional medical practice and two counts of healthcare fraud.
- He was released on home incarceration and a $100,000 unsecured bond after his initial court appearance, and he is currently barred from practicing medicine or prescribing medications.
