NEWARK — The New Jersey State Board of Medical Examiners ("BME") has revoked the license of a North Jersey physician who was accused by the State of fraud, negligence and malpractice for, among other things, billing insurance carriers for radiologic services never rendered, subjecting patients to unnecessary testing, and endangering patients by using unsterile injection techniques, Attorney General Peter C. Harvey and Consumer Affairs Acting Director Jeffrey Burstein announced.

In addition to immediately revoking the medical license of William Burke, M.D., the BME also ordered the physician to pay $142,500 in penalties and $200,736 in costs and expenses. Burke, who had been licensed with the BME since 1964, maintained practices in West Orange as well as Berkeley Heights and Millburn.

In rendering its decision on Wednesday, the BME accepted, in its entirety, an initial decision filed in February by Administrative Law Judge Elinor R. Reiner who found that the State proved its case and concluded that Burke engaged in multiple violations of BME rules and accepted standards of practice. ALJ Reiner presided over 16 days of hearings from May until July 2004 into the State's allegations.

"This case is not just about fraud," Attorney General Harvey said. "It's about a practitioner who has been found by the Board to have exploited his position as a physician and exposed his patients to harm."

"Dr. Burke's disregard for his patients' well-being, we believe, left the Board with no other alternative but to revoke the physician's license," Acting Director Burstein said. "We are satisfied with the outcome of this case and hope that others will take a valuable lesson from it. We take seriously our responsibilities to protect the public's health, safety and welfare and will see to it that those who flout our laws and provide negligent services to patients are punished."

In its 14-count complaint, the State accused Burke of :

• billing Medicare, insurance carriers and health maintenance organizations for services not rendered and/or failing to maintain proper patient records;

• exposing patients to potential contamination by injecting them with medications or vaccines using and re-using hypodermic needles and syringes which were not maintained in a sterile manner;

• inducing patients who merely sought general annual checkups or treatment of a minor, non-cardiac ailment to submit to unnecessary, extensive medical diagnostic testing at his office, including cardiovascular stress tests.

• In some instances, he required patients who sought referrals to an independent specialist to first submit to extensive medical diagnostic tests;

• delegating the performance of certain radiologic services to unlicensed individuals, in violation of laws designed to protect patients from the harmful effects of excessive and improper exposure to radiation;

• repeatedly performing grossly negligent or incompetent radiologic studies on patients and individuals sent to him for independent examinations by, in part, failing to appropriately prepare patients for radiologic studies,

• failing to properly position patients resulting in an inadequate view, and failing to use correct size cassettes;

• failing to perform complete and competent medical examinations of patients, thereby exposing patients to potential harm;

• failing to secure medications from unauthorized access by patients; and

• failing to remove outdated medications from his inventory.

Burke also faces criminal charges by the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice stemming from his activities. In December, a State Grand Jury handed up an indictment alleging conspiracy, second degree; health care claims fraud, second degree; attempted theft by deception, third degree; and unlawfully exposing people to unnecessary radiation, fourth degree.

Deputy Attorney General Joan D. Gelber of the Division of Law handled this case for the State.

In another, unrelated matter, the BME suspended the license of Frederick J. Nahas for a nine-month period. The suspension stems from the vascular surgeon's conviction of obstruction of justice in a health care fraud investigation.

Under the terms of a consent order, Nahas must, during the suspension, take and pass BME-approved courses in record keeping and ethics. He must also pay $8,591 in costs and appear before a committee of the BME to demonstrate his fitness to resume practice and compliance with the order.

Deputy Attorney General Megan Matthews of the Division of Law handled this matter for the State.

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