A New Jersey doctor admitted using his medical license — and allowing other to use his medical license — to purchase prescription oncology medications under false pretenses for the purpose of selling them for profit. Joel Lerner, 62, of Warren, New Jersey, a board-certified podiatrist and operator of a medical supply group purchasing organization, pleaded guilty to an information charging him with unlawfully selling prescription cancer medication, which had been previously purchased using his medical license and under the representation that such medication was to be used to treat his patients.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court: While working in his medical practice’s offices in various locations in New Jersey, Lerner was recruited by an individual who owned a pharmacy and also owned and operated two businesses that were wholesale distributors of prescription drugs. At the request of this individual and others working with him, and in return for commissions and discounts on other medical supplies purchased by Lerner for his group purchasing organization, Lerner used his medical license — and allowed others to use it — to purchase expensive prescription drugs, primarily, cold-chain biologic infusion medications that typically are used to treat cancers, macular degeneration, and autoimmune diseases. By recruiting and using Lerner and his medical license to purchase the drugs, these individuals were able to obtain prescription drugs from the pharmaceutical manufacturers’ authorized distributors that they would not otherwise have been permitted to purchase. They were then able to sell them at a profit through their two businesses.
