Prior to April 2007, the Drug Enforcement Administration, a county prosecutor's office, the U.S. Postal Inspector and the state insurance fraud section opened a joint investigation into whether a North Wildwood pain-management physician was issuing Percocet prescriptions without medical justification and billing insurers for services not performed.
An undercover police officer visited the office seven times posing as an exotic dancer who wanted Percocet to relax after work, recording each conversation. At her first visit she said she had no pain and no spine or other issues. The physician limited his examination to listening to her heart and lungs, left the chief complaint section blank, but recorded a diagnosis of acute lumbar and thoracic strain and issued a prescription for thirty Percocet tablets. He billed the insurer using a code that requires a comprehensive history and examination.
In December 2009 the State Board of Medical Examiners found that the physician fraudulently prescribed Percocet and deliberately falsified medical records to justify those prescriptions. It revoked his license for a minimum of five years and assessed monetary penalties and costs.
The physician appealed, arguing the Board should have considered newly discovered evidence, that the findings lacked support, and that the sanction was disproportionate. In October 2010 the Appellate Division rejected each argument and affirmed the revocation, noting that courts defer to a licensing board's choice of sanction unless it shocks the sense of fairness.