Doctor accused of running a pill mill from his N.J. office, writing 50 scripts a day

A Hudson County doctor was indicted on 58 counts in December, including charges of exchanging opioids for sexual favors, medical fraud and running a drug-involved premises, federal prosecutors said.

Ritesh Kalra, 52, of Secaucus was initially charged with three counts of prescribing opioids in exchange for sex and two counts of medical fraud in July 2025.

But the federal indictment announced Wednesday adds 36 counts of distributing opioids outside the usual course of professional practice and for illegitimate purposes, one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises and 21 counts of health care fraud, according to officials.

Kalra is accused of running a pill mill out of his medical office in Fair Lawn where he prescribed opioids, including oxycodone and promethazine with codeine, to patients who didn’t need them, officials said.

Between January 2019 and February 2025, officials claim Kalra wrote more than 31,000 prescriptions for oxycodone, sometimes writing close to 50 prescriptions in a day.

Several of Kalra’s former employees reported that women told them Kalra would touch them sexually and demanded sexual favors in exchange for opioids during appointments, officials said.

Employees reported hearing sexual sounds coming from Kalra’s office and one of the alleged victims worked at Kalra’s medical office for a period of time, according to the federal complaint filed in July 2025.

One patient reported being forced to have sex with Kalra during appointments, officials said. Another patient continued receiving opioid prescriptions while incarcerated at the Essex County jail and did not have contact with Kalra during that period, officials said.

Kalra is also accused of billing for in-person visits that never occurred, officials said. Medical records contained false progress reports and phony dates of service, officials said.

The records also included “generally identical” notes for visits and did not record vital signs, officials said.

Kalra’s attorney strongly refuted prosecutors claims.

“The government’s press release is deplorable and beyond inappropriate,” Kalra’s attorney Michael Baldassare told NJ Advance Media.

“The Indictment does not contain a single allegation regarding sexual contact with a patient. The government’s quest for headlines is a non-event and deserves no attention whatsoever.”

Baldassare said Kalra maintains his innocence.