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A jury in Essex County recently awarded a woman $3.2 million in a lawsuit against her former doctor, Jonathan Fellus for engaging in a sexual relationship with her while he was treating her her for a brain injury. (File photo by Andy Mills/The Star-Ledger)
(Andy Mills/The Star-Ledger)
TRENTON — A woman who sued her neurologist for negligence and intentionally inflicting emotional distress by having sex with her while he treated her brain injury has won a $3.2 million judgment from a jury in Essex County.
Jonathan Fellus of Glen Rock admitted to having a five-month affair in 2008 to 2009 with a woman who had suffered a traumatic brain injury following a car accident. In June, the state Board of Medical Examiners suspended Fellus' license to practice medicine for three years for violating rules that bar doctors from having sex with their patients.
After an 11-day trial, the jury awarded the plaintiff $1.5 million for compensatory damages plus $1.7 million in punitive damages on April 27, according to a copy of the judgment. NJ Advance Media has declined to identify the woman because of the sexual nature of the offenses and her permanent disability.
Attorney Evan Goldman, who represented Fellus, said he plans to challenge the verdict and seek a new trial. "The amount of the verdict and punitive damages were totally excessive," Goldman said.
Winning punitive damages in a malpractice case is "very uncommon, but certainly justified in this case," said the woman's attorney, Dennis Donnelly of Chatham. According to Fellus' clinical notes read at trial, she had suffered a frontal lobe injury to her brain, which controls emotions, and she suffered from panic attacks and seizure-like episodes, according to court transcripts. The woman worked as a teacher before the accident, but had to quit because her injuries left her with lasting memory and cognitive deficits, according the the transcripts. The injuries compromised her judgment and rendered her unable to consent to the affair, Donnelly said.
During her first office visit with Fellus, a neuro-rehabilitation specialist then employed at the Kessler Institute of Rehabilitation in East Orange, she asked if he was available on weekends, according to court transcripts. Fellus "smiled and replied with a question, 'Are you asking me on a date?' She said no, and he appeared 'annoyed,' causing her to worry 'that he might refuse to take care of her.' She emailed him later saying she 'wouldn't mind if you asked me out.' "
The affair that began in September 2008 consisted of five encounters, according to the lawyers in the case. She became pregnant, had an abortion and threatened suicide, court records said. She was treated at Carrier Clinic in Montgomery, where she told a therapist about the affair, but there was no follow-up, according to court transcripts.
Before she filed the civil suit, Donnelly said his client told him she had filed a complaint with the Essex County Prosecutor's Office, but investigators did not take on the case. The prosecutor's office does not comment on complaints that do not result in criminal charges, spokeswoman Kathy Carter said.
"Part of her damage is really an inability to trust, trust men, trust physicians and bordering on a paranoia," Donnelly said during the trial. After the affair ended, Fellus referred her to specialists in New York, but she came to believe these physicians knew about the affair, according to transcripts. She declined treatment for about two years until she found a doctor on her own, who has been treating her successfully with medication, the transcripts said.
"It was not in dispute that he had this affair with his patient," said Goldman, Fellus' attorney. "We argued that anything that occurred was not forcible. While she may have psychological problems, we do not believe any of this was caused by this short-term relationship."
At the time of his suspension last year, Fellus practiced at Advanced NeuroCare in Flanders, and was chief medical officer for the International Brain Research Foundation, an independent nonprofit organization that supports experimental research. The medical board required he refer his patients to other doctors and pay a $10,000 fine as well as $34,450 in court costs. A board spokesman confirmed Fellus had paid the fees and administrative expenses. He also is no longer affiliated with the the foundation, according to trial transcripts.
"We don't deny she has been damaged and hurt as a result of this relationship. Dr. Fellus still to this day feels remorse. He never desired to hurt a patient. In his many years of practice, he has helped hundreds and hundreds of people with cognitive injury," Goldman said. "People have weaknesses and frailties, and he fell into this, obviously."
Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanKLivio. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.