Peter C. Harvey, Attorney General

Division of Consumer Affairs
Reni Erdos, Director

For Immediate Release:November 23, 2004

For Further Information Contact:
Genene Morris, Jeff Lamm
973-504-6327

NEWARK — A committee of the New Jersey State Board of Medical Examiners last night temporarily suspended the license of a Montclair physician whose alleged gross malpractice and negligence put the lives of six of his patients at serious risk, Attorney General Peter C. Harvey and Consumer Affairs Director Reni Erdos said today.

Following a hearing, held over a two-day period, the four-member committee found that Dr. Matthew Ponzio of Montclair represented a clear and imminent threat to his patients’ health, safety and welfare. The committee’s action stems from a nine-count complaint filed by the State alleging that Dr. Ponzio’s actions showed reckless indifference to the health of his patients.

The State, represented by Deputy Attorney General Kevin R. Jespersen, alleged that Ponzio engaged in repeated acts of malpractice that threatened the lives of patients who were in his care while at Mountainside Hospital in Montclair. Mountainside suspended Ponzio’s privileges in March. Ponzio subsequently resigned from the hospital in May.

"This case is about protecting the public from a doctor who, we allege, ignored and overlooked his patients’ conditions," Attorney General Harvey said. "We allege that he showed such a flagrant disregard for the well-being of his patients that he does not deserve to hold a license in the State of New Jersey."

"This physician allegedly made grave errors that exposed his patients to serious injury," Director Erdos said. "The health, safety and welfare of patients far outweigh this physician’s right to be licensed in New Jersey."

The State’s case focused on Ponzio’s treatment of six patients: P.L., J.B., S.M., M.M., B.B. and J.Q. For example, the State’s complaint alleged that Ponzio violated Board rules by, among other things:

• Discharging from Mountainside patient J.B. who had a heart attack and a stent inserted into one of his arteries, without prescribing Plavix and aspirin to the patient. The standard of care requires the prescription of both medications to prevent the formation of a blood clot in the stent which could cause another heart attack. Shortly after his discharge, J.B. suffered another heart attack and ultimately died.
  
  
• Cleared patient S.M. for elective hip replacement surgery without checking to ensure that a urinary tract infection S.M. had days before had cleared. Ponzio, aware of the infection, had earlier prescribed a seven-day course of antibiotics for S.M., but did not follow up with a urine culture to test for the existence of the bacterial infection. In addition, Ponzio allegedly never obtained a lung function test for S.M., nor did he perform a meaningful cardiac evaluation before clearing S.M. for surgery, despite the fact that S.M. had suffered from an irregular heart beat and compromised lung function as a result of an earlier operation during which a portion of his left lung was removed. As a result, S.M. suffered severe complications after the hip replacement surgery and died.
  
  

Prescribed Coumadin, a blood thinner, to patient M.M., who suffered from bleeding ulcers. Ponzio allegedly failed to consistently obtain and monitor coagulation studies for M.M. After a 17-day period, during which no coagulation study was obtained for M.M., Ponzio finally got a report showing that M.M.’s coagulation rate was at a dangerously slow level which could have caused substantial bleeding.

In addition, the State further alleged that Ponzio backdated patients’ medical records and falsified his credentials on letterhead.

The committee, in rendering its decision, found that the State had demonstrated Ponzio’s "multiple instances of poor judgment, sloppiness, dishonesty, failure to monitor and endangerment of life and health of patients..."

As part of the committee’s ruling, Ponzio is prohibited from taking on any new patients between now and Dec. 1, when the temporary suspension takes effect, and making new admissions in any hospital. He must also work to transfer the care of all his hospitalized patients to another physician within 24 hours of the ruling and while in practice, co-manage the care of his office patients with his daughter, Dr. Geralyn M. Ponzio, or another physician approved by the Board.

The committee’s decision is pending review and ratification by the full Board of Medical Examiners at its next meeting on Dec. 8. A full hearing will be held on the State’s complaint, which seeks to revoke Ponzio’s license.

The Board will entertain an application for reinstatement from Ponzio only if he hires a preceptor, who is not a relative, to co-manage the care of his patients. He must also undergo a focused evaluation by the Center for Personalized Education of Physicians and carry out its recommendations; successfully complete medical record keeping and ethics courses acceptable to the board; agree to report to the Medical Director of the Board for chart review on a monthly basis; and limit his practice to no more than 40 hours of work a week.