The New Jersey attorney general is seeking to suspend the medical license of a doctor who prescribed the powerful painkiller fentanyl to a patient who later fatally overdosed. Attorney General Christopher Porrino also warned other physicians on Monday to use extreme caution in prescribing the drug, marketed as Subsys.
The complaint against Dr. Vivienne Matalon of Cherry Hill, N.J., also announced Monday, comes amid concerns that many physicians are inappropriately prescribing Subsys to patients for whom it's not intended, putting them in danger and helping to further fuel the epidemic of opioid abuse in the country. Subsys is approved for use in cancer patients who are suffering sharp bouts of pain despite taking other opioids. But many physicians are prescribing the drug “off-label” for patients who do not have cancer.
