NEW JERSEY – An Ocean Township pediatric gastroenterologist was suspended from practice indefinitely after he was arrested in Toms River in July and charged with distributing a controlled dangerous substance.
Dr. Martin D. Fried, who operates Healthy Days LLC in Ocean, appeared in U.S. District Court Thursday to face new charges of attempting to distribute oxycodone, Adderall, and Xanax “outside the usual course of professional practice and not for a legitimate medical purpose,” New Jersey State Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said.
Those charges were filed by the U.S. Attorney Office in the District of New Jersey.
The doctor was arrested outside a Walgreens by Toms River Police on July 20, 2018. Two of his patients, to whom he allegedly prescribed medically unnecessary prescriptions, were also arrested.
Fried voluntarily surrendered his DEA registration on July 31, which allowed him to prescribe CDS. He also voluntarily informed the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners that he ceased practicing medicine.
Fried has agreed to an indefinite suspension of his medical license, pending a future demonstration of his fitness to practice, and further action by the Board, under the terms of a consent order.
Under that same order, Fried must participate in a professional assistance treatment program before he can be reinstated.
“We need doctors working with us, not against us, in the fight to end New Jersey’s opioid epidemic,” Grewal said. “As these actions demonstrate, we will continue to crack down on doctors who flout prescribing laws and fuel the opioid health crisis by indiscriminately dispensing pain medications that lead to addiction.”
Patients who believe that they have been treated by a licensed health care professional in an inappropriate manner can file an online complaint with the State Division of Consumer Affairs by visiting its website or by calling 800-242-5846 or 973-504- 6200.
