Twenty-seven former patients of a Fair Lawn physician have filed a civil lawsuit accusing him of running a years-long scheme in which he traded opioid prescriptions for sexual favors, threatened those who refused, and left staff who allegedly knew about the abuse silent for years. The plaintiffs — 24 women and three men — say Dr. Ritesh Kalra used his position as a primary care and pain management provider to exploit patients who depended on him for medication.
The lawsuit, filed in Bergen County, New Jersey, alleges a years-long pattern of sexual abuse, exploitation, and misconduct by Kalra, according to the complaint as reported by Shore News Network. Plaintiffs accuse Kalra of exposing himself, engaging in unwanted sexual touching, and coercing patients into sexual acts, per the complaint. One plaintiff says Kalra threatened to kill her if she disclosed what occurred, according to the same filing. The suit names Kalra, his practice Ritesh Kalra, MD, LLC, and 10 unidentified individuals as defendants.
According to the complaint, Kalra allegedly retaliated against patients who rejected his advances by reducing or withholding their prescription medications — a particularly coercive threat given that many of the plaintiffs were already dependent on the high-dose opioids he was prescribing. The suit asserts claims including negligence, medical malpractice, assault and battery, invasion of privacy, emotional distress, discrimination violations, and corporate negligence, and the plaintiffs are seeking compensatory and punitive damages along with a jury trial.
Staff Allegedly Knew and Said Nothing
The lawsuit alleges that Kalra's medical staff knew about the inappropriate conduct but failed to report it to authorities or state medical regulators. That claim lines up with employee accounts described separately in the federal investigation: statements from former staff members indicated that medical personnel heard sexual sounds coming from examination rooms and fielded complaints from female patients about unwanted touching and demands for sexual acts in exchange for prescriptions, according to Hudson County View. The civil suit separately names 10 unidentified individuals as defendants.
Attorney Nathaniel Foote of Andreozzi + Foote, who represents the 27 plaintiffs, said the lawsuit describes an appalling abuse of patients' trust and physician authority. Foote also represents plaintiffs in an addiction-treatment case detailed by FOX 5 Atlanta.
Federal Charges Describe a High-Volume Pill Mill
The civil case runs alongside a federal criminal prosecution that paints a picture of extraordinary prescribing volume. Federal prosecutors allege that between January 2019 and February 2025, Kalra wrote more than 31,000 prescriptions for oxycodone out of his Fair Lawn office — sometimes generating upwards of 50 oxycodone prescriptions in a single day, per the same Hudson County View report. Prosecutors say Kalra allegedly prescribed oxycodone to roughly 1,500 patients starting in January 2019, and allege he prescribed high doses of opioids, including oxycodone and promethazine with codeine, without legitimate medical purpose.
According to the New Jersey Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, 3,990,809 opioid prescriptions were provided statewide in 2019, offering a benchmark for the prescribing volume alleged in the Kalra case.
A federal grand jury in Newark returned a 58-count indictment against Kalra on December 15, 2025, charging him with 36 counts of illegal distribution of controlled substances, 21 counts of healthcare fraud, and one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Federal prosecutors allege Kalra unlawfully distributed controlled substances, operated what amounted to a pill mill, and defrauded New Jersey Medicaid by billing for medical visits that never occurred. The indictment followed a criminal complaint filed against Kalra in July 2025.
Following his initial arrest last summer, Kalra was released on home incarceration under an unsecured $100,000 bond, with conditions that barred him from practicing medicine or issuing prescriptions, court records described by Patch show. As a condition of that release, Kalra was required to shut down his Fair Lawn medical practice while the criminal case remained pending. The case, captioned United States v. Ritesh Kalra, is assigned to U.S. District Judge Michael E. Farbiarz in the District of New Jersey's Newark federal courthouse, according to New Jersey 101.5, and the charges carry the potential for decades-long prison sentences if Kalra is convicted. He is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court, and the criminal charges remain pending.
License Suspended, Past Practice Also Drew Scrutiny
The New Jersey State Board of Medical Examiners formally suspended Kalra's medical license and Controlled Dangerous Substances registration in August 2025, according to the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs. The board's action is part of the legal record in the case against Kalra.
According to the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, complaints about New Jersey physicians are processed by the state Board of Medical Examiners.
Legal documentation published by law firm Levy Konigsberg shows Kalra graduated from the Silesian Academy of Medicine in Poland in 2002 and held affiliations with regional health institutions, including St. Joseph's University Medical Center in Paterson. The documentation also discusses Kalra's professional background.
Part of a Wider Pattern in New Jersey
The lawsuit against Kalra centers on allegations of sexual exploitation. A separate report by the New Jersey Monitor also addresses allegations involving a doctor. Advocates say such cases highlight failures by medical staff and institutions to report patient abuse when it is happening under their own roofs.
In a separate 2014 case, the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners revoked the license of a Somerset County physician accused of indiscriminately prescribing addictive painkillers, according to the New Jersey Attorney General. The New Jersey Attorney General's 2019 Year in Review says the Divisions of Law and Consumer Affairs and the State Board of Medical Examiners took disciplinary action against more than two dozen physicians that year.
