Board Action Follows Resolution of Criminal Charges Filed in Passaic County in Connection with Patient Allegations of Inappropriate Touching

Final Consent Order

TRENTON – Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and the Division of Consumer Affairs announced today that the State Board of Medical Examiners (“the Board”) has permanently revoked the medical license of a North Jersey cardiologist who allegedly fondled and groped six female patients under the guise of performing medical treatments while alone with them in an exam room during office visits that occurred between 2008 and 2014.

John Strobeck, who maintained practices in Fair Lawn and Hawthorne, New Jersey, has not practiced medicine in New Jersey since 2015, when the Board temporarily suspended his license pending the resolution of criminal charges filed in Passaic County in connection with the alleged incidents. Those charges were resolved in January 2024, and Strobeck has now agreed to the permanent revocation of his license to resolve allegations tied to his professional license.

According to those allegations, Strobeck engaged in gross malpractice, professional misconduct, and sexual misconduct on numerous occasions by fondling and groping the breasts and genitalia of patients, who ranged in age from 51 to 80, without legitimate medical justification and for his own sexual gratification.

“Doctors who sexually exploit patients behind the closed door of an exam room are a danger to the public and a disgrace to their profession,” said Attorney General Platkin. “We will continue to investigate and root out sexual misconduct by medical practitioners to protect patients and maintain the integrity of New Jersey’s healthcare profession.”

“Trust is the cornerstone of the doctor-patient relationship, and patients suffer immeasurable harm when doctors abuse that trust for their own sexual gratification,” said Cari Fais, Acting Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs. “The alleged conduct of this physician is so egregious, only the permanent revocation of his license could adequately protect the public from the risks posed by his return to practice.”

On February 10, 2015, a State grand jury in Passaic County indicted Strobeck on a six-count superseding indictment charging him with criminal sexual contact. After receiving notice of the indictment, the State sought and obtained a temporary suspension of Strobeck’s medical license pending the resolution of the criminal case. On January 16, 2024, Strobeck resolved his criminal matter by entering into a pretrial intervention program.

This month, he resolved the State’s allegations of malpractice and professional and sexual misconduct by consenting to the permanent revocation of his license.

Under the terms of a final consent order filed by the Board on April 8, 2024, Strobeck is permanently barred from the practice of medicine and surgery in New Jersey and prohibited from seeking a medical license here at any future time. Additionally, he is prohibited from charging, receiving, or sharing in any fee for professional services rendered by others in this state and must divest himself of any current and future financial interest in or benefit derived from the practice of medicine here, including the provision of healthcare activities taking place at his former medical offices. Strobeck is also precluded from managing, overseeing, supervising, or influencing the practice of medicine or the provision of healthcare activities in New Jersey, including testifying as an expert witness or serving as an expert consultant.

The State was represented by Deputy Attorney General Pavithra Angara, under the supervision of Section Chief Doreen A. Hafner and Assistant Section Chief David M. Puteska, of the Professional Boards Prosecution Section, within the Affirmative Civil Enforcement Practice Group of the Division of Law.

Patients who believe that they have been treated by a licensed health care professional in an inappropriate manner can file an online complaint with the State Division of Consumer Affairs by visiting its website or by calling 1-800-242-5846 (toll free within New Jersey) or 973-504-6200.

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The mission of the Division of Consumer Affairs, within the Department of Law and Public Safety, is to protect the public from fraud, deceit, misrepresentation, and professional misconduct in the sale of goods and services in New Jersey through education, advocacy, regulation, and enforcement. The Division pursues its mission through its 51 professional and occupational boards that oversee 720,000 licensees in the state, its Regulated Business section that oversees 60,000 NJ registered businesses, as well as through its Office of Consumer Protection, Bureau of Securities, Charities Registration section, Office of Weights and Measures, and Legalized Games of Chance section.

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