July 23, 2015
A New Jersey doctor has had his license revoked and must pay the state $50,000 after the Board of Medical Examiners determined he was considered an "easy mark" for patients seeking prescriptions to addictive painkillers.
Dr. Adam C. Gilliss, who practiced in Merchantville, previously had his license temporarily suspended in July 2014 after a committee hearing of the Board of Medical Examiners reviewed an administrative complaint filed by the state Attorney General. At the time, the state alleged that Gilliss prescribed potentially addictive narcotic painkillers to seven patients for lengthy periods without adequately evaluating the dependency and justification of medical need, according to a release from the State Attorney General's Office.
“The authority to make controlled painkillers available to patients is truly a life and death responsibility,” Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman said. “Doctors who abuse this authority, either through greed or negligence, should be removed from practice.”
A Consent Order with the Board of Medical Examiners will now require Gilliss to wait at least two years before applying for reinstatement of his medical license, and even if that does happen, his authority to prescribe controlled dangerous substances has been permanently revoked.
In addition, Gilliss has been ordered to pay New Jersey a $30,000 civil penalty and $20,000 to reimburse the state for investigative and legal costs.
The Board of Medical Examiners noted that Gilliss' "untethered opiate prescribing ... placed each patient at a significant risk of harm" and showed "a fundamental absence of judgment." It was not until Gilliss became aware of the state's investigation, the Board noted, that he took "efforts to alter his lax practices."
The investigation was conducted by the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs' Enforcement Bureau.
