Dr. J Ordered by the Court to Stop Practicing Medicine ...

in Brevard and Indian River Counties. This decision comes from judge Curt Jacobus, 18th Circuit Court in Viera, FL, as a response to Richard Hynes' and The B.A.C.K. Center's (T.B.C.) injunction against him for breaching a non-compete agreement from 2018. This decision comes despite Dr. Januszewski moving his practice outside the non-compete jurisdiction to Orlando, Florida. Furthermore, Dr. J's non-compete agreement was with First Choice Medical Group and included only neurosurgery practice. The ruling also forbids Dr. Januszewski from seeing any patients from Brevard or Indian River Counties, irrespective of his practice location.

It is important to note that The B.A.C.K. Center does not offer neurosurgical services and never has outside Dr. Januszewski's expertise. Therefore, this decision severely limits access to neurosurgical services in these counties and paves the way for potential harm to the health of those patients. By not replacing the services Dr. Januszewski provided, some patients have nowhere to go now, as their health insurance plans are not accepted by the only other neurosurgery employer, Health First Health System.

Additionally, Health First Health System acquired The B.A.C.K Center as of February 2022. This further limits access to neurosurgery in Brevard county, as Health First is now the ONLY employer of neurological surgeons. Interestingly, since there is only one neurosurgical employer in Brevard County, the Court's decision violates the new section of Chapter 542 Florida Statue. The Statue was made into law by Governor Ron DeSantis in 2019 and prohibits restrictive covenant agreements and voids existing restrictive covenant agreements for physicians who practice a medical specialty in a county with only one employer of that specialty.

This Court ruling effectively removed the only source of livelihood for Dr. Januszewski, who recently bought a home in Brevard County and started a family with his wife, Jessica. The court decision came in 5 days before his second daughter, Olivia’s, birth. Dr. Januszewski is already blessed with a beautiful 17-month old Charlotte. But there is a silver lining to this. At least his daughters are too young to one day remember the hardships judge Curt Jacobus, Richard Hynes, and The B.A.C.K. Center put them through.

And this may be exactly what they wanted. But while implementing as much hardship and damage to Dr. Januszewski as possible was the exact outcome T.B.C. and Richard Hynes were striving for, it only resulted in actual harm to the patients of Brevard and Indian River Counties. Some of these patients have no other alternatives to the neurosurgical services Dr. Januszewski was providing. Some were already turned down by the few remaining options, while others never had another option to begin with.

T.B.C. and Richard Hynes will be celebrating this as a win. A win for the prosperity of one rich man, one multi-million dollar entity, at the cost of harm to hundreds of middle- and lower-class Americans who happen to live in Brevard and Indian River counties. If this is not the reason for a call to action, then I do not know what other catastrophe we have to wait for before a change ‘for the people’ can happen.