Feds: NJ doctor prescribed thousands of oxy pills to fake patients

⚪ NJ doctor prescribed thousands of Oxy pills

⚪ Patients included prisoners she never saw

⚪ Each bottle was split three ways, prosecutors say

A 65-year-old North Jersey doctor has been busted for distributing thousands of pills of opioids to fake patients, according to U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger.

Lisa Ferraro, of Hillsdale, has been charged with one federal count of knowingly and intentionally conspiring and agreeing with others to distribute oxycodone, not for a legitimate medical purpose.

Ferraro practiced internal medicine in Paterson from January 2020 to August 2023, during which she wrote about 425 prescriptions for a total of 36,500 oxycodone pills.

She wrote oxy prescriptions without doing a physical exam or asking about symptoms — and sometimes wrote them without even seeing the individual in person, according to investigators.

Once prescriptions were filled, a 90-day supply of pills was split three ways: 30 pills to Ferraro, 30 pills to her unnamed co-conspirator and 30 pills to the fake patient whose name it was under.

⚪ Prisoners among ‘fake patients’ of Ferraro’s

Among fake patients were two people in prison while Ferraro was prescribing thousands of oxycodone pills in their names.

One who was serving time in Hudson and Passaic County jails — the other was in a federal prison in Alabama.

Around August 2021, a person who later became an informant for law enforcement met with Ferraro at her medical office.

During that meeting, which was audio and video-recorded, Ferraro wrote a prescription for 90 pills of 30 mg oxycodone.

The script was handed to a co-conspirator, without the patient ever being physically examined or asked whether they were experiencing pain or any other symptoms.

That one individual was prescribed about 600 oxy pills, over a two-year span.

Ferraro made an initial appearance on Tuesday in Newark federal court.

She was released on $150,000 unsecured bond.

If convicted, the charge of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine.

Previously, Ferraro had faced healthcare insurance fraud charges, filed against her and two office workers.

Those charges were dismissed in 2019 by a Passaic County judge, as reported by Paterson Times.

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