A New Jersey neurologist has been suspended from practicing medicine again after he allegedly violated a previous sexual misconduct order that required him to have a chaperone in the room whenever he was seeing female patients.
The state of New Jersey is seeking to revoke Jonathan Fellus’ license entirely, citing evidence that he has seen female patients without a chaperone in the room, in violation of a 2018 consent order, according to a Friday, February 6, news release issued by the New Jersey Office of Attorney General.
Fellus, a Morris County-based doctor who mostly practices at Advanced Neurocare in Randolph, previously agreed to the chaperone requirement in order to have his medical license reinstated in 2018, the attorney general’s office said.
Four years before his license was reinstated, he was accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a female patient, according to the state.
Fellus was alleged to have engaged in a sexual relationship with a woman he was treating for a brain injury, NJ.com reported.
The woman ultimately sued Fellus on claims of negligence and emotional distress, according to the outlet. The lawsuit went to trial, resulting in a jury awarding her $3.2 million in damages.
Under the 2018 consent order related to allegations involving this patient, Fellus was also banned from socializing with female patients – in addition to needing a chaperone when seeing them, according to the attorney general’s office.
In the news release, the attorney general’s office said that the state is petitioning the Board of Medical Examiners to revoke his license based on allegations that Fellus “sought to evade the chaperone requirement and tried to conceal his failure to comply with the chaperone requirement by falsely claiming he sees female patients at a location in New York, where he is permitted to practice without restrictions.”
The attorney general’s office also accuses Fellus of reaching out to female patients to “discourage” them from working with the board’s investigation into him.
Fellus is represented by Tom Calcagni, who previously worked within the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office.
In an emailed statement shared with Us Weekly on Monday, February 9, Calcagni said the state’s application to revoke Fellus’ license “is not based on any patient harm, alleged or otherwise, because there is none.”
“It’s based entirely on the claim that Dr. Fellus failed to fully comply with an outdated chaperone requirement related to an inappropriate relationship that took place nearly two decades ago, for which Dr. Fellus long ago fully accepted responsibility and served his discipline,” Calcagni said.
“He adamantly denies any noncompliance, no matter how technical, with the terms of his reinstated New Jersey licensure and is pressing forward for a full hearing so that he can return to providing much needed care to his New Jersey patients,” Calcagni added.
On January 14, as part of an interim consent order preventing Fellus from working as a medical director at any state medical practice, Fellus agreed to his license being temporarily suspended, pending a hearing, according to the attorney general’s office.
Jeremy E. Hollander, the acting director of New Jersey’s Division of Consumer Affairs, said in a statement that “This doctor’s alleged conduct, if proven, demonstrates an utter contempt for the Board’s authority and a disregard for patient safety that will not be tolerated.”
“Temporarily removing him from practice until this matter is resolved is necessary to protect the public,” Hollander added.
Read the full article here
