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Who is Ritesh Kalra? US doctor who issued 31,000 ‘fake’ prescriptions for sexual favours
Many of Kalra’s ex-employees said that female patients complained that Kalra touched them sexually and demanded sexual favours of them to obtain prescriptions.
An Indian-origin doctor in New Jersey has been accused of running a 'pill mill', prescribing opioids for sexual favours and defrauding New Jersey's healthcare programme by billing for visits that never happened.
Ritesh Kalra, 51, allegedly prescribed high-dose opioids, which if often used for addiction, on a regular basis and also issued fake bills for visits that never occurred, US Attorney Alina Habba said.
Kalra issued more than 31,000 prescriptions for oxycodone, a high-dose opioid, between January 2019 and February 2025, issuing as many as 50 prescriptions a day.
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The prescriptions included promethazine with codeine and oxycodone, a powerful opioid with a high risk of addiction and abuse, the Attorney's office said.
Who is Ritesh Kalra?
Dr Ritesh Kalra is an internist from Fair Law in New Jersey. Kalra completed his education from the Medical University of Silesia in Zabrze, Poland, multiple websites, including Zocdoc and Doximity said. With over 20 years of experience in the medical field, he has been attending to patients with their primary care and internal medicine needs.
The internist has been charged with 5-count Complaint with 3 counts for unauthorised distribution of opioids and 2 counts of healthcare fraud, according to a US Attorney press release.
He also allegedly billed for false in-person visits and counselling sessions, the statement said.
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The US-based doctor has also been accused of sexually exploiting patients in exchange for fake prescriptions and prescribing medicines.
Accused of demanding sexual favours
Many of Kalra’s former employees reported that female patients complained that Kalra touched them sexually and demanded sexual favours of them, including oral sex, to obtain their prescriptions.
The US Attorney statement said that a patient described being sexually assaulted by Kalra on multiple occasions, including forced anal sex during clinical appointments.
Another patient continued to receive opioid prescriptions from Kalra when the patient was incarcerated at Essex County Correctional Facility and had no contact with Kalra, according to the statement.
What are the charges against Ritesh Kalra?
The five-count complaint against Kalra includes distributing controlled substances, health care fraud and issuing over 31,000 prescriptions for oxycodone.
The charges of distributing controlled substances carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine. Meanwhile, the charge of health care fraud includes up to 10-year jail and a fine of $250,000.
The charges and allegations contained in the complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Kalra appeared before a US Magistrate Judge in Newark federal court on Thursday. He is also required to shut down his medical practice while the case is pending.
He is currently released and is under house arrest after submitting an unsecured bond of $1,000,00. Kalra's attorney, Michael Baldassar, has denied the accusations and said that the government press release reads like a supermarket tabloid, the New York Daily News reported.
A 2016 record from the Superior Court of New Jersey has shown that Dr Kalra failed to pay his employee, Amal Musallam, $12,000 in promised wages for three months in 2013. The court had then ordered him to pay the wages.
