A New Jersey cardiologist was sentenced to 30 months in prison on Wednesday for unlawfully issuing thousands of oxycodone pills to a couple.
Raymond Catania, 60, of Warren, New Jersey, pleaded guilty to charges that he distributed “oxycodone outside of the usual course of professional practice and not for a legitimate medical purpose,” U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced in a statement through the Department of Justice (DOJ).
The defendant was also fined $25,000 by U.S. District Judge Michael A. Shipp and sentenced to three years of supervised release, in addition to his prison sentence.
From January 2016 to March 2017, Catania, at his cardiology practice in Watchung, New Jersey, issued thousands of prescription oxycodone pills to a patient without a legitimate medical reason, according to court filings.
“Oxycodone – a Schedule II controlled substance – has a high potential for abuse that can lead to severe psychological and physical dependence and can result in fatal overdoses,” the statement noted.
Not only did Catania unlawfully give the highly addictive opioid to that patient, but he also issued thousands of oxycodone pills to the patient’s wife, despite her not even being Catania’s patient.
Sellinger noted that the convicted New Jersey cardiologist prescribed over 8,600 Oxycodone 30 mg pills to the couple.
The FBI was involved in the investigation that led to Catania’s conviction.
In 2021, over 80,000 Americans died from an opioid overdose, many of which are caused by prescription painkillers, such as oxycodone.
Breitbart News reported in 2020 of another New Jersey physician, Robert Delagente, who admitted to unlawfully prescribing addictive opioid painkillers to patients without a legitimate medical purpose. He was sentenced to six years in prison in May.
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