Suspended Bordentown doc had patient die under his watch
BORDENTOWN» A Burlington County doctor suspended from practicing medicine for overprescribing opiates had a patient die under his care, authorities revealed.
Dr. Moishe Starkman, who operated an office on Route 130 in Bordentown, had his license temporarily suspended by the State Board of Medical Examiners on Oct. 11, according to a copy of the consent order previously obtained by The Trentonian. Authorities released more information Monday about the grave circumstances that led to the doctor’s sidelining from practicing medicine.
Marking their latest attempt to crack down on an opioid epidemic sweeping the nation, authorities revealed the doctor remained in practice after a 22-yearold patient died under his care over two years ago.
The 22-year-old man overdosed in May 2015, two months after his final, fateful visit with Starkman, authorities said.
Starkman, who graduated from the Temple University School of Medicine in 1986, was hit with a fivecount administrative complaint in August, alleging he indiscriminately prescribed opiates and other controlled dangerous substances, including highly potent fentanyl, to five patients, according to the consent order.
His care of those patients “constituted gross negligence” and his “continued practice of medicine would present clear and imminent danger to the public health, safety and welfare,” according to the order.
It wasn’t just the 22-yearold, authorities said.
Starkman carelessly doled out “massive quantities” of fentanyl and Oxycodone – more than 700 pain pills a month – along with other dangerous prescription narcotics, to four other patients since 2012.
The doctor didn’t examine patients or document reasons they needed drugs, authorities said.
Starkman agreed to the temporary suspension of his medical license pending the outcome of a hearing. While he’s suspended, the family practitioner cannot enter his former medical practice, have anything to do with the practice of medicine or testify as an expert witness in New Jersey.
State authorities say the doctor ignored signs that some of the patients he was prescribing pills to had become addicted or may have been hawking them on the streets.
“We allege that instead of providing legitimate medical care to his patients, Dr. Starkman simply wrote them prescription after prescription for highly addictive drugs without so much as taking their temperature,” Attorney General Christopher Porrino said in a news release. “The scant patient records this physician kept provide no valid reason for his patients to be on powerful painkillers.”
Authorities also faulted the doc for not “making reasonable efforts to prescribe alternative medications” or keeping adequate progress reports on patients.
“The actions of Dr. Starkman, as alleged, undermined that trust and placed his patients in grave danger,” said Sharon Joyce, acting director of the Division of Consumer Affairs.
The 22-year-old man initially went to Starkman in July 2012 complaining about lower back pain. He told the doctor he was taking a cocktail of medications, including muscle relaxers and anxiety meds. The doctor allegedly failed to physically examine the man before giving him more muscle relaxers, and putting him on opiates a month later.
Starkman wrote a prescription for Xanax and kept the man on a steady stream of pain pills, up to 240 a month, authorities said. He didn’t reevaluate a treatment plan or change the dosage as he was required to by state law, authorities said.
The doctor also ignored complaints from the 22-year-old about side effects from Oxycontin, such as slurring and random bouts when he fell asleep. During the patient’s final visit, Starkman allegedly wrote him a prescription for 120 Oxycodone even though he knew he had been released from an addiction rehabilitation facility in Vermont three days earlier, authorities said.
Authorities also alleged Starkman prescribed a 29-year-old woman 720 pain pills in a month, which was “equal [to] one pill for every hour of the day”; and prescribed 600-720 Oxycodone pills each month to a 41-year-old woman without physical exams or a treatment plan.
The doctor blew off a warning letter from an insurance provider noting the woman had filled 18 prescription drug claims at four pharmacies.
Additionally, Starkman was accused of doing the same for a 42-year-old man. He prescribed pain pills to the man knowing he repeatedly tested positive for cocaine and had been flagged for filling prescription from seven physicians within a year.
Another patient had also told the doctor his 42-yearold patient was “selling your scripts on the street” and “using someone else’s pee to pass your drug screen.”
Trentonian staff reporter David Foster contributed to this report.