Dr. Philip Eatough, the Rumson pain-management physician facing a slew of charges related to drug prescribing, should be allowed to continue operating his Middletown practice in the interim, but under strict limits, a state panel has recommended.

Today’s Star-Ledger reports that, under a ruling last night by a panel of the state Board of Medical Examiners…

Eatough’s records will be monitored by two board-approved physicians and he cannot prescribe powerful, schedule II narcotics to patients. The panel’s ruling must be ratified by the entire Board of Medical Examiners.

Eatough faces an 11-count federal indictment charging him with criminal conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. He is currently out on bail.

Eatough’s attorney, Alex J. Keoskey, said the case is part of a political attack on physicians who specialize in pain management. Keoskey noted that the federal investigation took five years, from 2002 to 2007, and investigators examined hundreds of files, yet based their indictment on three cases.

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