State suspends licenses of 2 doctors over pain med prescriptions

The doctors are suspected of indiscriminately prescribing highly addictive pain medication, authorities said

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TRENTON --Two New Jersey physicians have temporarily surrendered their licenses to practice medicine while authorities investigate claims that they prescribed highly addictive painkillers to patients who didn't need them.

Dr. Byung Kang, 76, of Little Falls, is accused of indiscriminately prescribing medication, including to at least one patient who he knew was being treated for an addiction to opiates, said acting state Attorney General Christopher Porrino.

Dr. Michael W. Rutigliano, 54, of Paramus, is accused of issuing prescriptions through a third-party to patients he did not see, and of providing patients with future prescriptions for these controlled substances, a practice known as "back-dating," Porrino said.

After a raid on Kang's office in May, authorities found incomplete patient records that, in most cases, contained no plan of care for patients, and no medical justification for prescribing narcotics to them, according to prosecutors.

The investigation into Rutigliano's practice began last fall when one of his patients was arrested in Bergen County while in possession of four pill bottles containing 319 tablets of Oxycodone prescribed by him, prosecutors said. The patient also had 11 prescriptions issued by Rutigliano for Oxycodone and other narcotics, prosecutors said.

"By suspending the licenses of Dr. Kang and Dr. Rutigliano while these serious allegations are pending against them, the Division of Consumer Affairs has taken swift action to protect the public," said Consumer Affairs Director Steve Lee. "The suspensions will ensure that these doctors will see no patients until these allegations are resolved."

Kang and Rutigliano have entered consent orders with the state Board of Medical Examiners that prohibit them from practicing medicine until further action by the board.