Worker forced to toil in doctor's Tinton Falls home with life-threatening aneurysm

TRENTON — State authorities have suspended the medical license of a Central Jersey physician who they say forced two undocumented workers to toil long hours for low pay as domestic servants in her Tinton Falls home, while prohibiting one of them from getting surgery for a potentially deadly brain aneurysm until the worker could find a replacement.

With a hearing pending before the state Board of Medical Examiners to permanently revoke her license to practice medicine and surgery, Dr. Harsha Sahni, 67, last week agreed to a temporary suspension of her license, Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said.

The attorney general and the state Division of Consumer Affairs are seeking permanent revocation of the license for conduct related to federal criminal charges Sahni pleaded guilty to in February, for which she is awaiting sentencing.

Sahni, who has a rheumatology practice in the Colonia section of Woodbridge, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to conceal and harbor aliens and filing a false tax return in connection with her harboring two Indian nationals in her home from 2013 through 2021.

A complaint filed with the medical examiner's board seeking the license revocation alleges Sahni's actions in perpetrating the crimes "violate professional standards, demonstrate an appalling lack of judgment and moral character and are of a nature such that her continued licensure would be inconsistent with the public's health, safety and welfare.''

The complaint alleges that one of the victims lived in Sahni's home and was required to work from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. for between $240 to $600 a month, which Sahni paid to the victim's family in India.

The complaint also alleges Sahni prevented that victim from receiving surgery for a life-threatening brain aneurysm.

The aneurysm was discovered as the victim was suffering headaches that grew progressively worse following a car accident in 2014, the complaint said. Sahni allegedly told the woman she was not permitted to rest and to take Tylenol for her headaches and complete her work, it said.

As the headaches worsened, Sahni allegedly told the woman she could not receive treatment because she was in the United States illegally and seeing a doctor would be too expensive, the complaint said.

When the woman's headaches became so debilitating that she couldn't work, Sahni brought her to the emergency room at Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank on April 28, 2021, the complaint said. Tests there revealed a large brain aneurysm for which doctors recommended immediate transfer to the neurology intensive care unit at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, the complaint said. Doctors advised that without medical intervention, the woman faced possible rupture of the aneurysm and even death, it said.

Sahni, who falsely represented herself to the doctors as the woman's sister, translated the doctor's advice to the woman, who did not speak English, the complaint said. After Sahni had a lengthy conversation with the woman, Sahni advised the doctors that the woman wanted to go home against medical advice, the complaint said.

The victim then went to Sahni's home, where she was required to complete her normal workload, according to the complaint.

At a followup appointment the following day, doctors explained there was a one in five chance that without surgery, the aneurysm would rupture, and the patient would die, the complaint said.

When the woman expressed a desire to have the surgery, Sahni told her she "could not have surgery until she secured a replacement to work in the respondent's home,'' the complaint said. Sahni continued to force the woman to work knowing she had an aneurysm that could rupture, it said.

Authorities said there was no evidence in the victim's medical records that Sahni ever took the woman for treatment or scheduled the surgery before law enforcement removed the victim from the physician's home.

The complaint also alleges that Sahni defrauded various entities into providing free and reduced-cost dental and medical care to the woman. Sahni falsely claimed on certifications that she believed the woman's dental problems were the result of domestic violence, which resulted in treatment valued at $6,000 that was performed by a volunteer dentist, the complaint said. Similarly, Sahni misrepresented the woman's income, housing and employment status on an application to the Visiting Nurse Association of Central Jersey's Community Health Center, resulting in the woman receiving services for a reduced fee, according to the complaint.

When she entered her guilty pleas in federal court, Sahni admitted she knew the two women whom she employed as domestic workers were in the country illegally and that she harbored them for financial gain and caused both of them to believe they would be arrested and deported if they interacted with law enforcement.

Sahni further admitted she provided the victims with food, clothing and housing and made them work as housekeepers at a price less than what she would have had to pay had she employed them legally.

Sahni also admitted telling the women to lie to immigration officials and say they were members of her family who were just visiting the United States. And, she admitted not paying taxes related to their labor or disclosing the work they performed for her on personal tax returns.

"The criminal exploitation and utter disregard for the well-being of the victims in this case shocks the conscience and violates the most basic principles of medical practice,'' Platkin said.

Sahni is scheduled to be sentenced in federal court in Trenton on Oct. 5.

Her plea bargain calls for up to 30 months in federal prison and requires that she pay a total of $642,212 to the victims and up to $200,000 toward treatment of the one victim's brain aneurysm. Sahni also will be required to pay restitution to the Internal Revenue Service.

Kathleen Hopkins, a reporter in New Jersey since 1985, covers crime, court cases, legal issues and just about every major murder trial to hit Monmouth and Ocean counties. Contact her at khopkins@app.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Doc refused her Tinton Falls maid time off for life-saving surgery