North Jersey Doctor Admits Prescribing Pills With No Medical Reason: Feds

CLIFTON, NJ — A Passaic County surgeon has admitted to multiple federal charges of prescribing unneeded drugs to patients, officials said.

Evangelos Megariotis was a physician who specialized in orthopedic surgery and owned Clifton Orthopedic Associates, according to U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger's office. He had practiced there since 1983, his LinkedIn page shows.

In 2022, the 72-year-old was charged with prescribing pain pills and other drugs in a 34-count indictment.

Officials said he issued prescriptions for these drugs (including Xanax, Oxycodone, Oxycontin, and the stimulant Dextroamphetamine), to five patients "without a legitimate medical purpose and outside the usual course of professional practice." The prescriptions were written between March 2017 and Nov. 2017, authorities said previously.

Megariotis was a regular practitioner for with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and was allowed to issue such prescriptions only for a real medical reason, according to the indictment.

Oxycodone, Oxycontin, and related drugs "have a high potential for abuse that can lead to severe psychological and physical dependence and can result in fatal overdoses," Sellinger's office said.

On Tuesday, officials said Megariotis pleaded guilty to seven of those counts of unlawful distribution of controlled substances.

At a sentencing scheduled in mid-October, Megariotis faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine. His defense counsel is Michael Kasanoff of Matawan.

Megariotis had also been charged back in 2018 with similar crimes, and agreed to stop practicing medicine until the state Board of Medical Examiners approved someone to be at all meetings between himself and his patients.

In that previous case, Megariotis was also accused of failing to diagnose or treat underlying conditions, improperly treating conditions outside his area of expertise without referring patients to specialists, and performing surgeries without a legitimate need.

His practice closed that same year and he later lost his license after agreeing to retire, according to previous Patch reporting.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Megariotis' LinkedIn page was still active, and said he was "retired but not tired," while indicating he is still practicing.

In a comment to Patch, Kasanoff said Megariotis has been retired from the practice of medicine since the end of 2018, and that he "looks forward to putting this matter behind him."