NYC rehab doctor casually gave out Ketamine to addicts: suit

A Manhattan rehab doctor casually doled out Ketamine depression treatments while “grooming employees and patients for sexual abuse,” a new lawsuit alleges.

Addiction-recovery coach Benjamin Kimmel says physician Ramesh Sawhney of Gramercy Park clinic The Recovery Spot “improperly prescribed controlled substances to known addicts” including to himself, according to a Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit filed late Wednesday.

Kimmel — an addict and 28-year veteran recovery coach — partnered with Sawhney to help with coaching patients and client development and marketing, the court papers say.

At the Irving Place clinic, Sawhney prescribed Ketamine infusions to severely depressed or suicidal patients — but soon offered the treatments to Kimmel in a “surprisingly informal” way.

The doctor told Kimmel he ” ‘shouldn’t have to deal with the pain’ — an unusual statement, since Mr. Kimmel was not experiencing pain and did not request treatment from Sawhney,” the court papers claim.

Sawhney told Kimmel not to worry when he expressed concern about getting the treatment since he’s a former addict.

Ketamine is a “dissociative anesthetic that has some hallucinogenic effects” and carries a “moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence,” according to the US Drug Enforcement Administration, which lists the compound as a Schedule III controlled substance — the same severity level as Tylenol with codeine, anabolic steroids and testosterone.

Kimmel was given two Ketamine treatments and a Botox treatment for depression and anxiety which “triggered Mr. Kimmel’s concerns regarding his past struggles with addiction,” the court documents say.

Sawhney then submitted phony insurance bills for the treatment, falsely claiming Kimmel saw a psychiatrist “associated with The Recovery Spot,” the suit alleges.

The doctor also became “sexually aggressive” with Kimmel, including telling Kimmel in April text messages “that he was ‘going to grab [his] balls and watch [him] get hard,’ ‘And f–k,’ and that Kimmel should ‘Show [him][his] cock,’ ” the suit charges.

When Kimmel rebuffed the text advances, Sawhney apologized and claimed he was quoting a gay poet that he thought Kimmel knew, the court filing says.

Kimmel says this harassment was not a first for Sawhney.

Another employee claimed in a separate lawsuit that Sawhney asked for her to pose nude, asked if he could be her “sugar daddy” and touched her and said inappropriate things to her, the court papers allege.

Sawhney also texted another doctor that he was “[e]xpecting your wet a– to be ready for me,” the suit says.

The doctor allegedly sexually assaulted a female patient who was under anesthesia, the suit claims.

Last fall, an employee quit after Sawhney kissed her and sexually harassed her, the court documents allege.

Kimmel, who left the clinic in November, is suing for at least $1 million.

Sawhney told The Post that Kimmel “is a disgruntled former employee” whom he fired when he allegedly discovered Kimmel wasn’t a licensed counselor as he claimed to be.

“[Kimmel] asked for a financial settlement and threatened to brandish [sic] us in public,” Sawhney said.

Sawhney denied all the allegations and defended the practice of using Ketamine to treat patients.

“We do K infusions with medical clearance. This is a common treatment we use,” Sawhney said.

Kimmel and his lawyer declined to comment on the lawsuit. Kimmel’s lawyer did not immediately return requests seeking comment on Sawhney’s allegations.